Jean-Claude La Marre

{{Infobox person

| name = Jean-Claude La Marre

| image = Jean-Claude_La_Marre_9Oct2009.jpg

| caption = Jean-Claude La Marre speaking at press conference in Los Angeles on October 9, 2009

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|10|10}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.

| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|producer|director|writer}}

| education = Brooklyn College (BA)

}}

Jean-Claude La Marre is a Haitian-American actor, writer, and director. His acting credits include the films Malcolm X and Dead Presidents. On television, he has guest-starred on New York Undercover, Law & Order, and NYPD Blue. He is also the writer and director of the independent films Gang of Roses{{cite web|title=Gang of Roses|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/295687/Gang-of-Roses/overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112182010/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/295687/Gang-of-Roses/overview|url-status=dead|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|publisher=Baseline & All Movie Guide|author=Michael Hastings|date=2007|archive-date=2007-11-12}} and Go for Broke.

Early life and education

La Marre was born in Brooklyn and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Brooklyn College. He is a black American of Haitian descent.{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/39832/Jean-Claude-LaMarre|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030041531/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/39832/Jean-Claude-LaMarre|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-10-30|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|publisher=Baseline & All Movie Guide|date=2008|title=Jean-Claude La Marre}}

Career

In 1994, La Marre appeared as Jake in Fresh. La Marre's Color of the Cross, is a film that portrays Jesus as a black man, and implies that Christ's persecution was a racially-motivated hate crime.{{cite news|url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/07/DDG0VM628B1.DTL|title=What race was Jesus? 'Color of the Cross' puts a different face on...|date=November 7, 2006|work=San Francisco Chronicle|accessdate=August 10, 2010 | first=Jason B. | last=Johnson}} His directorial debut was the film Higher Ed.{{cite web|url=http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/theatrical_article.cfm?article_id=1015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010409212900/http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/theatrical_article.cfm?article_id=1015|title=Urbanworld Films Acquires 'Higher Ed'|website=hive4media.com|archivedate=April 9, 2001|date=April 4, 2001|accessdate=September 21, 2019|via=The Hollywood Reporter|url-status=live}}

In 2007, LaMarre set up a distribution output deal for his film label, Nulite Media Group. During the period, he was credited for releasing over 60 feature films. Among the films released through the label are the revisionist western, Gang of Roses, Trapped: Haitian Nights, Broom Wedding, and Nora's Hair Salon, with a cameo by the late Whitney Houston in the film. In 2017, he wrote and directed "Kinky", a 50 Shades of Grey-esque erotic thriller. The film as released on 700 screens around the country.

In 2018, he wrote and directed the upcoming film "Gangland" with singer Tamar Braxton and actors Wood Harris and Clifton Powell.[http://celebrityinsider.org/tamar-braxton-posts-beautiful-photo-from-gangland-movie-set-112655/ Tamar Braxton post photo from gangland movie set on celebrityinsider.org]