Blair Underwood has played attorneys, presidents and heroes on screen. But the acclaimed actor who grew up in Petersburg, Virginia, says the most important story he has ever told is the one about his mother.
Underwood, whose family moved to Petersburg in 1979, recently sat down with Jennifer Hudson to talk about his new book, "A Soldier's Wife" — a tribute to his late mother, Marilyn Ann Scales Underwood, who passed away in 2020.
"She was a phenomenal woman," Underwood said.
The book's title is a nod to Underwood's Broadway run in "A Soldier's Play" and to his father, Frank Eugene Underwood Sr., a retired 28-year Army colonel. It was his mother who first introduced him to the arts — to Broadway, to Hollywood — and who helped set him on the path that would take him from Petersburg High School to Carnegie Mellon University to one of the most recognizable careers in Hollywood.
Marilyn spent the last 20 years of her life in a wheelchair due to multiple sclerosis. But her final night out was a memorable one — opening night of A Soldier's Play on Broadway.
"Her last moment to go out on the town and get dolled up, dressed up, made up, and everything, was opening night of 'A Soldier's Play,'" Underwood said.
Underwood described his mother as a trailblazer long before the spotlight found her son. In the 1930s, '40s and '50s, she was a fashion designer and became the first Black executive at Barman Brothers in Buffalo, New York.
"She and my dad were my heroes," Underwood said. "Taught me everything I know about being a man, being a human being."
He called the book his love letter to her.
"That's my mama," Underwood said. "She was balling before, you know, a lot of folks."
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Underwood also spoke about his ongoing community work, including the AHF Blair Underwood Health Care Center, a medical clinic in Washington, D.C., that has been serving patients for 16 years. The clinic offers a wide range of health care services, with many medications provided free of charge. Underwood said he got involved after learning about a troubling public health reality.
"I knew that the largest cause of death for Black women in our community was HIV AIDS," Underwood said. "And I said, that's crazy to me."
The Emmy Award winner also revealed he is a part-owner of the Oakland Ballers, a minor league baseball team in the Pioneer League. Oakland had lost three professional sports franchises — the Raiders, the Athletics and the Golden State Warriors — before the Ballers were created to give the community a team to root for. The investment has already paid off.
"They won. We won the championship last year," Underwood said.
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