JOHN BEASLEY
While Marlin Briscoe made a name for himself playing on the gridiron’s biggest stage as pro football’s first black starting quarterback, buddy John Beasley made a name for himself … on the stage itself. Both played for Omaha University under Coach Al Caniglia more than 50 years ago. Briscoe’s story is well documented. Beasley’s OU roots aren’t so well known, though. He attended OU from 1964 to 1968, during which time he was a member of the OU Reader’s Theater. In 1967 he and the group staged “In White America,” a play recounting the history of blacks in America from the time of slave ships to the civil rights struggle of the 1960s. Later he would play falsely accused Tom Robinson in an Omaha Community Playhouse production of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” There also was a turn as a black boxer in a Center Stage production of “Great White Hope” based on the life of Jack Johnson. Beasley worked while acting, but eventually it became his full-time career. He went from stage to screen, starring in numerous TV shows (“CSI,” “Everwood”) and movies (“The Sum of All Fears,” “The Mighty Ducks” and “Rudy”). In 2000 he founded the John Beasley Theater promoting works written by or featuring black playwrights and actors. Five years later UNO presented him with an honorary doctorate of humane letters. He currently stars as Mr. Dabney in the Fox series “Shots Fired.”