Kevin Rodney Sullivan

Kevin Rodney Sullivan (born August 3, 1958) is an American film and television actor and film director. Early life and acting career Sullivan is a native of San Francisco who began his career as a child actor. He grew up in St. Francis Square in the Fillmore district of San Francisco as the youngest of three children. His father was a bus driver, and his mother was a receptionist for the St. Mary's hospital. According to Sullivan, he was "one step up from a housing project". During sixth grade while performing A Midsummer Night's Dream, Sullivan's talents were picked up by Ann Brebner, who placed him and his entire class as extras in a movie by Sidney Poitier, They Call Me Mr. Tibbs! in 1970. This was his first experience with cinema. Brebner would continue to give him auditions for various roles. In 1970, he was picked up for a job in an Alpha-Bits Cereal commercial, making over $7,000 off of that role alone. He continued to obtain small roles in theater productions and doing commercials. Most notably, He got a role as the Master of Ceremonies during a show of Sesame Street that was being filmed live at Golden Gate Park. He was made to "sit on this big garbage can with a microphone and introduce the various skits," with Jim Henson controlling the puppets. Sullivan then went on to get a part in a movie called Thumb Tripping, with Meg Foster, following which he got a part in a series called Wee Pals on the Go. The series was based on a comic strip by Morrie Turner and featured an integrated neighborhood. He played the part of Randy, "a kid with a big afro who loved sports," according to Sullivan. For Christmas, the producer of that series gave Sullivan his first 8-millimeter camera with which he first experimented in film. He acquired a scholarship to St. Ignatius College Preparatory, which was a Jesuit all-boys high school located in the Sunset District of San Francisco. "The school had 1,200 boys, only forty of them were black," according to Sullivan. At St. Ignatius, Sullivan was challenged in his class work for the first time, and because of his race, was barred from the theater program as well. "I felt out of place and no one tried to make me feel otherwise," Says Sullivan. At one point he joined the Young Conservatory of the American Theater, located in downtown San Francisco. As a senior at St.