82R9937 JGH-D
By: Turner H.R. No. 625
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Celebrated actress and native Texan Loretta Devine
is being honored at the African American Legislative Summit, which
is being held in Austin on February 28 and March 1, 2011; and
WHEREAS, During the summit's scholarship banquet, the Texas
Legislative Black Caucus is presenting a scholarship named after
Ms. Devine to a college-bound high school senior; and
WHEREAS, Born in Houston, Ms. Devine was a stage director at
the Black Arts Center in the early 1970s; after earning a master of
fine arts degree from Brandeis University, she performed in a
number of notable stage productions in New York, including Godsong,
Hair, Dreamgirls, and The Colored Museum, working with such
theatrical luminaries as Michael Bennett, Bob Fosse, and George C.
Wolfe; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Devine began performing on television in 1987 as
a member of the cast of A Different World, and she has done guest and
recurring roles on such shows as Roc, Picket Fences, Touched by an
Angel, and Moesha; she has been a regular on Boston Public, The PJs,
Wild Card, Eli Stone, and Grey's Anatomy; she also appeared in the
television film The Murder of Mary Phagan and the PBS production of
The Colored Museum; and
WHEREAS, To date, Ms. Devine has appeared in almost 50 films,
including roles in The Preacher's Wife, I Am Sam, Crash,
Dreamgirls, Death at a Funeral, and For Colored Girls; her
outstanding performance as Gloria in Waiting to Exhale earned her a
1996 NAACP Image Award; and
WHEREAS, For more than 30 years, actress Loretta Devine has
been delighting audiences and inspiring young performers to pursue
a career in the arts, and it is indeed fitting that a scholarship
should be named in her honor; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
Legislature hereby honor Loretta Devine and commemorate the
presentation of a scholarship in her name at the 2011 African
American Legislative Summit in Austin; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Ms. Devine as an expression of high regard by the Texas
House of Representatives.