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Alan J. Levi on his preference for live audiences over canned laughter

Alan J. Levi on the impact of switching from filming in black-and-white to color

Alan J. Levi on knowing he wanted to be a director after watching the film Good News

Alan J. Levi on connecting with Dick Powell by writing letters and how that led to him coming to Hollywood to shadow TV professionals there

Alan J. Levi on connecting with Dick Powell by writing letters and how that led to him coming to Hollywood to shadow TV professionals there

Alan J. Levi on connecting with Dick Powell by writing letters and how that led to him coming to Hollywood to shadow TV professionals there

Alan J. Levi on the kinds of cameras he used for sports location shoots

On bringing the plays Day of Absence to PBS and Ceremonies in Dark Old Men to ABC in the 1970s; on the legacy of the Group Theatre Workshop and the Negro Ensemble Company

On his early television work on East Side/West Side; on how television production differed from theater production; on starring in the Profiles in Courage episode about Frederick Douglass; on his involvement in the Negro Actors Guild and acting in one David Merrick play and boycotting another that didn't employ any Black people; on working with Joseph Papp; on admiring Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand and how they inspire his work

On the craft of acting; on getting inspiration from the Berlin Ensemble Company and Harold Cluman's Group Theatre Workshop

On how he was cast in a lead role as "Detective Jeff Ward" on N.Y.P.D.; on input he had on his character, storylines, and on artists that joined the show; on memorable episodes, the show's cancellation, working with the writers, and on getting recognized more in his daily life

Robert Hooks on bringing the play Day of Absence to PBS in 1971

Robert Hooks on bringing the play Ceremonies in Dark Old Men to ABC in 1975

Robert Hooks on starring in the Profiles in Courage episode about Frederick Douglass

Robert Hooks on his first national television appearance -- on East Side/West Side

Robert Hooks on playing "Detective Jeff Ward" on N.Y.P.D.

Robert Hooks on bringing the play Day of Absence to PBS in 1971, directed by Paul Bogart

Robert Hooks on bringing the play Day of Absence to PBS in 1971, written by Douglas Turner Ward and based on Ward's experiences at the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Robert Hooks on his first national television appearance -- on East Side/West Side

Robert Hooks on his first national television appearance -- on East Side/West Side

Robert Hooks on starring with Frederick O'Neal in the Profiles in Courage episode about Frederick Douglass

Robert Hooks on starring in the Profiles in Courage episode about Frederick Douglass

Robert Hooks on working with Joe Papp (Papp directed him when he played the lead in Henry V)

Robert Hooks on loving Frank Sinatra's phrasing

Robert Hooks on loving Barbra Streisand

Robert Hooks on what he learned about theater companies from Bertolt Brecht and the Berlin Ensemble Company

Robert Hooks on being inspired by Harold Clurman and the Group Theatre Workshop

Robert Hooks on how he was cast in a lead role as "Detective Jeff Ward" on N.Y.P.D., becoming the first Black actor to star in an American primetime drama series

Robert Hooks on wanting his N.Y.P.D. character, "Detective Jeff Ward," to have a family and on Denise Nicholas playing his wife

Robert Hooks on his son, Kevin Hooks, getting his first on-screen role on N.Y.P.D. (opposite Al Pacino)