bio_donnie

biography

donnie l. betts

Benny

donnie l. betts has over 20 years of experience in theatre, film, radio and video. He is a founding member of two theatre companies in Denver; City State Ensemble and the Denver Black Arts Company.

He has performed on Broadway in "The Gospel at Colonus" with Morgan Freeman and in many regional theatre productions. His work in film as an actor has included a role in the 1997 feature “Switchback” starring Danny Glover. donnie’s work on TV as an actor includes appearances in Perry Mason movies and several Movies of the Week.

donnie was part of the production team for the pilot and the first show of “In Living Color” and “Dream On". He spent one season with Carol Burnett on “Carol and Company". betts directed, co-produced, co-wrote and acted in the documentary film "Dearfield, The Road Less Traveled", a film about an African American town in Colorado. "Dearfield" is the Silver Award Winner at the Black Filmworks Festival of Film and Video in Oakland, California, numerous festival awards and was featured in six other festivals including FESPACO in Burkina Faso, West Africa taking honors in three. "Dearfield" aired on PBS and was nominated for an Emmy.

He directed the film short "LA LA UNCUT". LALA was screened at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and the film aired on the Sundance Channel. donnie l. betts studied at the Yale School of Drama. He is the recipient of the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts in Colorado and numerous theatre, film and video directing awards.