Host and Panelists/Special Guests

HOST

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Host, Programs 1 and 2
Charlayne Hunter-Gault is known to millions of Americans as a national correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. She is known to history as the first African American woman to attend the University of Georgia, breaking the "color line" and passing through a crowd who jeered her on a January morning in 1961, experiencing first-hand the irrationality of adult racism.

Charlayne will use news footage and her personal experience to comment on the time when Harper Lee wrote and published her noveland the film was released.

After setting the social and historical context for the novel and the film, Charlayne will lead our panelists and audience in a discussion of the novel and film and how it has a continuing impact into our day and time.

PANELISTS

Gwendolyn M. Alexander

Panelist, Program 1
Lead Teacher for NCTE Review Team and Guidecontributor/advisor Gwen is an English Content Specialist for the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), a former high school English teacher, and is responsible for the Arts and Humanities Teachers' Collaborative and the DCPS English Language Arts Curriculum Framework. Gwen was recommended by NCTE to serve as lead teacher for the Review Team in preparation of the Teacher Study Guide.

Dr. William Costanzo

Guest scholar, member of NCTE Review Team and Guide contributor/advisor Bill serves the project as our specialist in media education. He teaches English and film at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, N.Y. and is former chair of NCTE's Committee on Film Study and director of the NCTE Media Commission. Bill teaches TKM annually, and will lead discussion in the second broadcast&emdash;the two- hour Lyceum featuring a dialogue about the making of and the impact of the film. Bill is well acquainted with interactive technologies and their use in the education of students and served as a member of the writing and NCTE Review Team planning process for the guide.

Dr. Joanne V. Gabbin

Guest scholar and Guide contributor/advisor; Dr. Gabbin brings her creativity and interests crossing over several disciplines and activities to the project. Director of the Honors Program and Professor of English at James Madison University, with a Ph.D in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago (concentration in American Literature with an emphasis on Black Literature), Joanne directs the Honors Program at J.M.U. She has a special interest in African American literature, poetry, art and culture. Dr. Gabbin was recommended to the project by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

Dr. Claudia Durst Johnson

Lead Harper Lee scholar, program consultant and Guide contributor/advisor Claudia has enjoyed a personal acquaintance with Harper Lee. Both she and Harper Lee were associated with the University of Alabama, where Johnson served as Chair of the English Department. In 1996, Claudia left a 23-year career as English professor and administrator at the university to write and edit full-time in California. She has written ten books including three on 19th-century American theatre, two on Nathaniel Hawthorne, and two on Harper Lee: Understanding To Kill A Mockingbird: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historic Documents and Threatening Boundaries.

SPECIAL GUESTS

Mary Badham (Scout)

Special guest, Program 2
Mary Badham, with no prior screen acting experience, and in competition with 2,000 other applicants, won the role of Atticus's tomboy daughter, Scout, in the film adaptation of TKM. She won a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance. Mary appeared in two other films, This Property Is Condemned and Let's Kill Uncle (both 1966), and on TV episodes of Dr. Kildare and Twilight Zone before retiring from the screen. She lives with her husband and children on a farm in Virginia, and is active each year in visiting schools and lecturing to audiences nationally about the film classic.

Phillip Alford (Jem)

Special Guest,Program 2
Joining Mary Badham on stage will be her on-screen brother, "Jem." Phillip lives in Alabama with his wife and children and is in the construction business. He will be reunited with Mary Badham, Brock Peters and other members of the cast and crew.

Brock Peters (Tom Robinson)

Special Guest, Program 2
Brock Peters was one of the leading Black film actors of the 1960s and 1970s. He made his stage debut in the 1943 production of Porgy and Bessand first appeared on the screen in Carmen Jones (1954). His memorable performance as Tom Robinson in TKM continues to stir audiences. Mr. Peters will be appearing on stage for the first time with both Scout and Jem to discuss the film with a national audience of students.

Gregory Peck (Atticus)

Special Appearance, Program 2 (tentative)
Gregory Peck, while a student in pre-med at Berkeley, traveled to New York where he saw I Married An Angel with Vera Zorina. His priorities suddenly changed and he withdrew from pre-med, joining a small theater group on campus. In 1939, Peck returned to New York City, won a scholarship to the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse School of Dramatics, and went on to a remarkable career as one of America's most honored and treasured actors. It has been said by many that Mr. Peck's zenith as a film actor was To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won anOscar&emdash;the Academy Award for Best Actor&emdash;for his portrayal of Atticus Finch.

Mr.Peck has been invited to reunite with his two Mockingbird children and with Brock Peters so that the story of the making of TKM can be passed on to this generation of students nationwide.

Members of the Writing and Planning Team for the Teacher Study Guide and the Lyceum Team members from NCTE and Prince William County Schools will also be available to respond to student questions during the live broadcasts.

HOST
Charlayne Hunter-Gault	Host, Programs 1 and 2 Charlayne Hunter-Gault is known to millions of Americans as a national correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. She is known to history as the first African American woman to attend the University of Georgia, breaking the "color line" and passing through a crowd who jeered her on a January morning in 1961, experiencing first-hand the irrationality of adult racism. Charlayne will use news footage and her personal experience to comment on the time when Harper Lee wrote and published her noveland the film was released. After setting the social and historical context for the novel and the film, Charlayne will lead our panelists and audience in a discussion of the novel and film and how it has a continuing impact into our day and time.
PANELISTS
Gwendolyn M. Alexander	Panelist, Program 1 Lead Teacher for NCTE Review Team and Guidecontributor/advisor Gwen is an English Content Specialist for the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), a former high school English teacher, and is responsible for the Arts and Humanities Teachers' Collaborative and the DCPS English Language Arts Curriculum Framework. Gwen was recommended by NCTE to serve as lead teacher for the Review Team in preparation of the Teacher Study Guide.
Dr. William Costanzo	Guest scholar, member of NCTE Review Team and Guide contributor/advisor Bill serves the project as our specialist in media education. He teaches English and film at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, N.Y. and is former chair of NCTE's Committee on Film Study and director of the NCTE Media Commission. Bill teaches TKM annually, and will lead discussion in the second broadcast&emdash;the two- hour Lyceum featuring a dialogue about the making of and the impact of the film. Bill is well acquainted with interactive technologies and their use in the education of students and served as a member of the writing and NCTE Review Team planning process for the guide.
Dr. Joanne V. Gabbin	Guest scholar and Guide contributor/advisor; Dr. Gabbin brings her creativity and interests crossing over several disciplines and activities to the project. Director of the Honors Program and Professor of English at James Madison University, with a Ph.D in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago (concentration in American Literature with an emphasis on Black Literature), Joanne directs the Honors Program at J.M.U. She has a special interest in African American literature, poetry, art and culture. Dr. Gabbin was recommended to the project by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.
Dr. Claudia Durst Johnson	Lead Harper Lee scholar, program consultant and Guide contributor/advisor Claudia has enjoyed a personal acquaintance with Harper Lee. Both she and Harper Lee were associated with the University of Alabama, where Johnson served as Chair of the English Department. In 1996, Claudia left a 23-year career as English professor and administrator at the university to write and edit full-time in California. She has written ten books including three on 19th-century American theatre, two on Nathaniel Hawthorne, and two on Harper Lee: Understanding To Kill A Mockingbird: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historic Documents and Threatening Boundaries.
SPECIAL GUESTS
Mary Badham (Scout)	Special guest, Program 2 Mary Badham, with no prior screen acting experience, and in competition with 2,000 other applicants, won the role of Atticus's tomboy daughter, Scout, in the film adaptation of TKM. She won a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance. Mary appeared in two other films, This Property Is Condemned and Let's Kill Uncle (both 1966), and on TV episodes of Dr. Kildare and Twilight Zone before retiring from the screen. She lives with her husband and children on a farm in Virginia, and is active each year in visiting schools and lecturing to audiences nationally about the film classic.
Phillip Alford (Jem)	Special Guest,Program 2 Joining Mary Badham on stage will be her on-screen brother, "Jem." Phillip lives in Alabama with his wife and children and is in the construction business. He will be reunited with Mary Badham, Brock Peters and other members of the cast and crew.
Brock Peters (Tom Robinson)	Special Guest, Program 2 Brock Peters was one of the leading Black film actors of the 1960s and 1970s. He made his stage debut in the 1943 production of Porgy and Bessand first appeared on the screen in Carmen Jones (1954). His memorable performance as Tom Robinson in TKM continues to stir audiences. Mr. Peters will be appearing on stage for the first time with both Scout and Jem to discuss the film with a national audience of students.
Gregory Peck (Atticus)	Special Appearance, Program 2 (tentative) Gregory Peck, while a student in pre-med at Berkeley, traveled to New York where he saw I Married An Angel with Vera Zorina. His priorities suddenly changed and he withdrew from pre-med, joining a small theater group on campus. In 1939, Peck returned to New York City, won a scholarship to the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse School of Dramatics, and went on to a remarkable career as one of America's most honored and treasured actors. It has been said by many that Mr. Peck's zenith as a film actor was To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won anOscar&emdash;the Academy Award for Best Actor&emdash;for his portrayal of Atticus Finch. Mr.Peck has been invited to reunite with his two Mockingbird children and with Brock Peters so that the story of the making of TKM can be passed on to this generation of students nationwide.
Members of the Writing and Planning Team for the Teacher Study Guide and the Lyceum Team members from NCTE and Prince William County Schools will also be available to respond to student questions during the live broadcasts.

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