Phillip Bernard Smith

Phillip began his acting career at the North Carolina Black Repertory Company in his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina after receiving his BS degree in Communications from Appalachian State University. Phillip contributes much of his success to his work with mentor and teacher, the late Mr. Larry Leon Hamlin, founder of the Repertory and the National Black Theatre Festival. He was also influenced by his friend and acting mentor, Anthony “Chiz” Chisholm and his classical training at The Actors Theatre Workshop under the leadership of master teacher Thurman E. Scott. Phillip is a retired history teacher and life-long educator.

Some of his stage work includes Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope, Once On This Island,The Meeting, Macbeth, The Whipping Man, Porgy and Bess, The Mountaintop, Twelfth Night, Home, Radio Golf, Gem of the Ocean, The Piano Lesson, The Royale, The Color Purple, Blues In the Night, Peter and the Wolf, Cold Mountain and The Gospel at Colonus. Phillip has directed A Raisin In the Sun, Freedom In Mind and American Son. He has received numerous awards including the Cantey Award for Best Leading Actor and nominated for Performer of the Decade by Broadway . He is currently on the Board of Directors for the Raleigh Little Theatre and a graduate student at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, School of Filmmaking in Creative Producing. Phillip lives in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife Tracy and twins, Anavi and Samarion