LOS ANGELES - The California Teachers Association is pleased to announce that renowned actor Lou Diamond Phillips is California's honorary chair of Read Across America. Created by the National Education Association five years ago to inspire millions of children and adults to celebrate the importance and joy of reading, Read Across America Day is March 1 in honor of the birthday of children's author Dr. Seuss.
"The California Teachers Association is very excited to have Lou Diamond Phillips participate in Read Across America this year," CTA President Wayne Johnson said. "He is a highly respected actor, writer and director whose participation will help draw much needed attention to this crucial issue. As an actor who also enjoys teaching, and the father of young children, Mr. Phillips recognizes the importance of every child learning to read."
As honorary chair of Read Across America in California, Phillips is featured on a series of radio public service announcements that are being sent by CTA to radio stations statewide. He will also participate in a special reading event with CTA President Johnson and students at a local Los Angeles public school on March 1 (time and location to be announced).
CTA is proud to welcome Lionel, Leona, Cleo and Theo, the characters from the award-winning PBS children's literacy program "Between the Lions," to its campaign for the first time. These popular characters help to celebrate this year's CTA theme for the event, "Get Wild About Books," as they appear in published materials and on the CTA Web site: www.cta.org.
A versatile theater, television and film actor, Lou Diamond Phillips has also written, directed and produced feature films. He was last seen on the CBS series "Wolf Lake," which premiered last fall. He received strong reviews and the Blockbuster Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Monfriez, the headstrong army gunner desperate to protect his honor in "Courage Under Fire" opposite Meg Ryan and Denzel Washington. Phillips says he fulfilled a life-long dream when he starred as the King of Siam in the Broadway production of Roger's & Hammerstein's classic musical, "The King and I." He is perhaps best known for the role that catapulted him to stardom in "Stand and Deliver," for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor and received a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe nomination. Phillips guest lectures on acting at the American Film Institute and hopes to continue his teaching by opening an extension of the Film Actor's Lab Los Angeles in the near future.