Contact: Jack Bailey (304) 766-4109 Jbaile19@wvstateu.edu
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – A ceremony to honor well-known actor and West Virginia State University (WVSU) alumnus Lou Myers will take place Friday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m. in the Della Brown Taylor Hardman Art Gallery of the Davis Fine Arts Building on the school’s Institute campus.
Myers, who passed away in 2013, will have a portrait by artist Frederick Hightower dedicated in his honor at the ceremony, which is free and open to the public.
Perhaps best known for his role as Mr. Gaines in the 1980s television sitcom “A Different World,” Myers had a long career in show business and appeared in countless other television shows and movies.
In addition to the unveiling of the portrait, Friday’s ceremony will also highlight a fundraising campaign to endow a scholarship fund in Myer’s honor for fine and performing arts students at WVSU.
Myers was a 1962 graduate of WVSU with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. After college, Myers moved to New York City where he began a long career on Broadway. He appeared in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” on five different occasions, and developed his own one-man cabaret show entitled “Just a Little Bit of Somethin’.” He also appeared in Oprah Winfrey’s “The Color Purple” on Broadway.
In 1988, he began a five-year run as restaurant owner Vernon Gaines on “A Different World.” Myers also had numerous guest spots on TV shows including “E.R.,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Jag” and “The Jamie Foxx Show.” He also appeared in several Hollywood movies, including “Cobb,” “Tin Cup,” “Bulworth,” “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” “The Fighting Temptations” and “Lackawanna Blues.”
Myers won an NAACP Image Award for his role as Stool Pigeon in the August Wilson play, “King Hedley II.” He has also won the off-Broadway Audelco Award for his role in the play, “Fat Tuesday.” In 2005, the Appalachian Education Initiative listed Myers as one of 50 “Outstanding Creative Artists” from the state of West Virginia and featured him in their coffee table book Art & Soul.
The ceremony honoring Lou Myers is part of Homecoming activities at WVSU. For more information, and a complete schedule of Homecoming events, visit or call (304) 766-3387.
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