Earle Hyman

Humanitarian Award
1993 HONOREE

Earle Hyman, was born October 11, 1926, and is acclaimed as a stage and television actor in the United States and Norway, is awarded the Norsk Høstfest Humanitarian Award for contributions to the theatre.

Earle Hyman, native of South Carolina, studied there and in New York. His first stage appearance, in 1943, was at New York’s American Negro Theatre. Reading Norwegian fairy tales as a child and an admiration for Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen started his love for Norway. In 1991 he toured with Norway’s National theatre. He received the Medal of St. Olav for 30 years’ stage work there.

Best known to American audiences as Grandfather Cosby in “The Cosby Show,” Mr. Hyman was the first black actor to portray Colonel Pickering in George Bernhard Shaw’s “Pygmalion.” He played the chauffeur’s role in “Driving Miss Daisy” during his 1991 Norwegian tour, and he has played Hamlet, Lear and MacBeth as well as Othello.

Mr. Hyman received the Liberty Bell Award in 1991 in Norway for his outstanding work there.

A frequent visitor to Norway, as well as an actor there, he speaks fluent Norwegian and loves the country and its people.

Gerhard Heiberg and his wife Cath have three children.