Robert Guillaume

In 1990, Guillaume replaced Michael Crawford in the title role of "The Phantom of the Opera" in Los Angeles, becoming the first African American performer in the role.

"I don't think I've had that much of a variety, that oppportunity to play a wide range of people. If you're black and you try to play a character that has not been seen, a philosophy professor, say, or has been on the horizon in film, theater and television, you always run up against people who don't understand. People who have a much more limited idea of what African-Americans are. We occupy a wide, wide spectrum of the territory we call the American dream. In the media it's a tiny little area." --Robert Guillaume in Daily News, September 11, 1991.

"If I had to identify what made me successful, I'd say it was a firmly grounded early education which made me unafraid of the English language. The ability to articulate effectively what I wanted to say and felt has served me more than anything else in this business." --Guillaume quoted in "Death Warrant" publicity material