Black American has always had an enormous appetite for the arts and entertainment. For years, Hollywood only recognized one side of that desire, which was that of White America. In appreciation for legendary pioneers such as Sidney Poitier, James Earl Jones, Flip Wilson, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Bill Cosby, Cab Calloway, Cicely Tyson, Melvin Van Peebles, Redd Foxx, and so many others, today’s generation of African American actors, actresses and musicians have worked hard to position themselves for the opportunity to not only amaze us on camera and records, but behind the scenes, on stage, on film and in literacy works that have made our hearts skip a beat. Since 1964, acting Legend Antonio Fargas has graced our presence in a series of projects for television, stage, film, and most recently as a contributor on literary work, “Safari Song”, written by Catherine Owens-Herrmann.
For sure the face of Antonio Fargas is a familiar one as he’s made us laugh due to his colorful attire on many accounts, and say “um”, but over all, he made us take notice. Many remember him for his role in the Blaxploritation film spoof “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka”, (where he’s also appeared in “Shaft”, “Car Wash”, “ Pretty Baby”, “Next Stop”, “Greenwich Village”, “ Le Bell Anglaise”, Whore”, “Conrack”, “The Howling VI”, “The Borrower” and others), but he’s most popular for the character of Huggy Bear on television series “Starkey & Hutch”, which dominated television during the 1970’s. “I had no idea that even now people still watch the show in reruns”, says Fargas. “ Barry Shear, was the director and he asked me to come by and read for the part. I got it, and the rest is history. I feel very blessed to have been part of that team. People always tell me when I travel they grew up watching that show. Those years were so great. It was a lot of fun back then. Today, television is very different and I miss the stories. There are no more situation comedy shows like “Cheers”, “All In The Family”, “The Cosby Show”, shows like that. Everything now is reality television. And there’s just to much animation. In my day, the powerful stories were the simple ones that really got you. The shows don’t get developed like they use to, so it’s just a different day and time.”
Fargas grew up as one of eleven children. His mother was from Trinidad, and his father was Puerto Rican. He speaks on how different it is today to raise children. “You don’t see large families now like you use to, “ he says. “ People can’t afford it. But we had a lot of good times back then. I was born in the Bronx and raised on the Lower West Side of Manhattan, which was called Chelsea. So it was perfect timing. I remember, my father was a garbage man and we worked hard for things. My parents taught us to work hard to make it in life. I helped raise my sisters and brothers. Today a lot of these kids don’t have that. Back then the community was a big part of your life. There was a very strong sense of family in the neighborhood. People were very friendly toward each other and really cared about working together and helping each other. Same thing with the industry back then, it was about family coming together to help each other. I came along during the birth of Black Theater off Broadway. The Negro Ensemble Company. We were the pastors of artistic form. Art was a mirror to life. And White America was very much part of what we we’re doing. They were very supportive. I have a lot of memories. It was also the right time for theater, poetry and all that. The closest thing I see to our family today is Hip-Hop. Being from the past generation, I feel very honored that a lot of our Rap Artists, Hip-Hop artists come to me and my peers and say they have always been open to what we did creatively. They say we older artists inspired them. I love all forms of music, but Rap brought back the passion for the music”. Fargas is also a musician who plays Trumpet, among other instruments.
Reminiscing about his past in New York, in Broadway productions and other acting gigs, Fargas speaks on meeting the greats. “ I remember I was 22 years old when I met James Earl Jones on Broadway, “as he continues. “ I was offered a role in “The Great White Hope”, in which he was the star. I remember Tyrone Power. I remember meeting the Legendary Jimmy Hendricks in a bathroom in Manhattan. I remember Isaac Hayes and so many others. Those were the good days”. And his thoughts about today’s Internet craze. “ No question can go unanswered. Today it’s all about instant technology, music and everything. I appreciate having this available to me”. And what about his roles in television today? Many people are familiar with him from “Everyone Loves Chris”, which is Executive Produced by Chris Rock. “ That is one of the relationships that I made along time ago”, says Fargas. “ Over the years I’ve met a lot of different people, and we’ve become friends, and that show is just a result of that”. In past years Fargas has also appeared in television shows such as in a recurring role on “Miami Vice”, ABC’s “All My Children”, as the father to Debbi Morgan’s Character, Angie Hubbard; movies of the week including ABC’s “Huggy Bear And The Turkey”, “PBS’s Denmark Veresy”, ABC’s Huckleberry Finn” and the CBS movie “Ambush Murder”.
His current project is “Safari Song”, which Fargas says was a delight to participate in. “I get to share my experiences with Cathy. To lend a hand in their efforts to bring this book to life. You can have all the talent in the world, but you need packaging, product, media and all that to make it a success. So I want to see this project go from book to play to television movie. This is a simple story of survival. Because my name can give credibility to a project to accomplish some of these things, I was glad to take part. We’ve been friends for a long time and I saw this as a very worthwhile project take part in”. “Safari Song” was first born as a series of whimsical and witty songs and later a series of books (Safari’s Song and Safari’s Dream). The journey of Safari has birthed such creativity in Catherine that, in partnership with her technically-gifted husband and fellow animal lover Bill, they have formed Owens-Herrmann Entertainment. The general purpose of this creatively diverse arts-based company is to take the message of Safari—one of determination, self-worth and hope—to kids, young adults and even parents around the world. You can learn more about “Safari Song” at http://owens-herrmannentertainment.com. In the future look for Antonio Fargas acting in a stage play in Europe and he’s also writing a book. You can learn more about Antonio Fargas at http://www.antoniofargas.net.
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