Bennett Bradley

Life began for BENNETT BRADLEY on September 18, 1949in Wilkes County, Georgia. He is the son of James Hill and Annie Bradley Hill. His life was abruptly ended on January 2, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.Bennett joined the Second Mount Zion Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland at an early age.He most recently became a member of the Fountain Baptist Church, , which he attended faithfully during his frequent trips to Baltimore.Bennett attended Baltimore City public schools and was a 1968 graduate of Dunbar High School. He received his Bachelors degree from Carroll College in Waukesha , Wisconsin, where he majored in theater arts. His passion for the theater eventually took him to his adopted home of Los Angeles, California.Bennett won many awards over the past 16 years for his direction of productions at the Fountain Theatre, an off-Broadway style theatre in Hollywood, California. He was well known for directing and producing challenging and controversial works covering the African American experience. Some highlights of his works as a director include his 2006 staging of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone, which scored Ovation awards for best direction and best production and the 2007 NAACP Award for his direction. He also produced Yellowman which won the L.A. Weekly's 2006 production of the year award. His 2008 staging of August Wilson's Gem of the Queen received best production honors from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. Other directorial credits at the Fountain Theatre include Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (winner of the NAACP Award for Best Actress) and Direct from Death Row: the ScottsbroBoys (winner of Best Ensemble, L.A. Weekly Award, and Best Ensemble, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award).Bennett was a gourmet cook and a lover of the arts. His hobbies included oil painting and collecting music and works of art. He was a warm, gentle, generous, loving man who enjoyed entertaining friends and family with a story and a meal.He was preceded in death by his brother, James Hill, Jr. Bennett is survived by: his loving mother and father; his sister, Deneice Valetine of Baltimore, Maryland; his brother, Michael Hill (Ellie) of Centreville, Virginia; and his sister, Karen Madlock (William David) of Memphis, Tennessee. In addition to his immediate family, Bennett is survived by eight aunts, Annette Dious (Kenneth) of Athens, Georgia, Porter Bee Jones of Tignall, Georgia, Beatrice Anderson of Atlanta, Georgia, Lavonia Willis of Baltimore, Maryland and Cinnamon Andrews and Ida V. Andrews (Marion) of Tignall, Georgia, Johnnie Mae Hill of Decatur, Georgia Josephine Hill of Washington, Georgia. Bennett also survived by numerous loving nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives, and friends.

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Bennett Bradley

September 18, 1949 - January 2, 2010