User:258/Michelle Banks

Michelle A. Banks is an actor and artistic director. She has appeared in several TV series, has toured the United States with the solo performance Reflections of a Black Deaf Woman, and founded the first theater of color in the United States.

Personal background
Banks was born and raised in Washington, DC. She went to Gallaudet University for one year, and after she decided to pursue acting, she transferred to the State University of New York at Purchase and became the first deaf student in SUNY's Drama Studies program. In 1990, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama Studies.

Acting
After graduation in 1990, Banks founded the Onyx Theatre, the first theater of color in the United States for herself and other deaf women of color. The theater was in operation for 11 years.

In 1992, Banks had a small role in the film Malcolm X. In 1999, she starred in the film Compensation. She also appeared in the Broadway revival of the musical Big River. In the 2000s, Banks appeared in several TV series. Late in the 2000s, she also toured the United States with the solo performance Reflections of a Black Deaf Woman. The Los Angeles Times theater critic Dink O'Neal described Banks's Reflections of a Black Deaf Woman as an "engaging 90-minute autobiographical piece full of charm accented by disturbing revelations" and said Banks had a "physically animated performance style".