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MESHACH TAYLOR
Actor
Meshach Taylor is probably best known to audiences for his Emmy-nominated portrayal of "Anthony Bouvier" for seven seasons on CBS's Designing Women. Taylor also co-starred in CBS's comedy Dave's World. Taylor played college buddy and neighbor "Sheldon Baylor," a newly divorced single parent and overworked plastic surgeon. In its review of the show last year, the New York Times stated, "Mr. Taylor steals every scene he's let near."
If Meshach Taylor hadn't spent most of his youth on the campus of Dillard University in New Orleans, he may never have turned to acting as a career. It was at Dillard, where both parents were professors, that Taylor discovered television, movie classics and, specifically, old Fred Astaire movies. Taylor was so moved by Astaire's acting, singing and dancing that he just knew he had to become a performer himself.
Meshach Taylor began studying acting in high school after his family moved to Indianapolis. As his love for the performing arts grew, he decided to continue his studies at Wilmington College in Ohio, with the hope to gain some strong acting experience. This hope died quickly. Taylor found that there was little opportunity for African-American actors in their program. Unwilling to see his dream destroyed, he transferred to Florida A&M in Tallahassee. A few credits short of completing his studies, Taylor returned to Indianapolis where he began to work at a local radio station as a State House political correspondent.
Meshach Taylor's desire to perform never dwindled, however, and when he learned that auditions were being held in Indianapolis for the national touring company of Hair, he made sure he was there . . . along with about 1,500 other hopeful actors. Unlike the other 1,499, Meshach got the role. For the next two years, he traveled with the company in what he describes as a tremendous experience. "I was able to be a part of something that had a lot to say to people, at a time when it needed to be said. It also allowed me to see the entire country. We toured all 50 states and every province in Canada."
The tour's last stop was Chicago. When the run concluded, Meshach Taylor decided to stay. What was originally planned as an eight-week visit for the actor somehow grew into an eight-year attachment. During his stay, he joined the Organic Theatre group where he met and worked with good friends Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz. While there, he also became part of Chicago's Goodman Theatre, where his performance in Sizwe Banzo Is Dead won him the Joseph Jefferson Award. Taylor also won a Chicago area Emmy for his performance in the PBS production of Huckleberry Finn, and he hosted his own talk show, Black Life, on the local NBC affiliate.
After eight years of cold and wind, Meshach Taylor and friend Franz decided that they had had enough. It was time to try their luck in Hollywood. And for Meshach it turned out to be a hell of a bet!
Upon moving, Meshach Taylor landed a role in the feature film Damien - Omen II. He also joined the Westwood Playhouse production of Sizwe Banzo Is Dead and began making guest starring appearances on such series as Barney Miller, Lou Grant, The White Shadow and M*A*S*H. As his success in Hollywood continued, Taylor landed a regular role on the Buffalo Bill series, co-starring Dabney Coleman and Geena Davis.
Meshach Taylor's credits also include co-starring roles in David Mamet's House of Games, where he was reunited with Mantegna, the CBS telefilm How to Murder a Millionaire, with Joan Rivers, and the hit comedies Mannequin and Mannequin Two: On the Move in which he portrayed the outrageous and flamboyant window dresser, "Hollywood."
Meshach Taylor made a cameo appearance in A Class Act for Warner Bros. and guest-starred in an episode of In the Heat of the Night. Taylor also appeared in the ABC movie-of-the-week Double, Double Toil and Trouble, playing an eccentric homeless man opposite twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. During his hiatus this year, Taylor co-starred in Virtual Seduction for Showtime/Concorde New Horizon and Nothing Lasts Forever, a CBS movie-of-the-week with Vanessa Williams and Brooke Shields.
On May 1, 1993, Meshach Taylor finally returned to Florida A&M to graduate. After over 20 years, he decided it was time to complete his remaining requirements in order to graduate. Meshach hopes one day to return to the stage and looks forward to a chance to produce, as well as continue his work in feature films. When not working, Meshach spends as much time as possible with his family: his beautiful wife Bianca, his three daughters, Tamar, Yasmine, Esme and his son, Tariq.
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