Celebrated actress, playwright and professor Anna Deavere Smith dazzled a UCLA audience Tuesday night with her spirited portrayals of Rev. Al Sharpton, author James Baldwin and former Texas Gov. Ann Richardson.

 

Smith, a MacArthur "genius" grant recipient whose one-woman plays have included poignant meditations on racial tensions in Brooklyn and the Los Angeles riots, delivered the annual Ralph J. Bunche Chair Lecture in honor of the international statesman, Nobel Prize winner and UCLA alumnus who negotiated the landmark peace accord between Israel and Arab nations in 1949.

 

"When we think about great people, I think we just comment and think about their greatness," Smith said. "The man we're here to honor, I think, had a great vulnerability."

 

Bunche's mother died when he was 13, and his uncle subsequently killed himself, Smith reminded the audiences.

 

"I would imagine these kinds of things were among the many things that opened his heart to the world, and so I am really fortunate to be here. But I am reminded of that quote, 'Don't be humbled. You're not that great,'" she said, drawing laughter from the crowd of about 100.

 

Smith then read an excerpt of a speech Bunche delivered while a student at UCLA in 1926, adding that his ideals set the foundation for a distinguished diplomatic career.

 

"Let us call a halt to all ethnocentric chauvinism, to that type of dangerous nationalism which teaches school children that, right or wrong, their nation is always right," Smith read, quoting Bunche. "Let us begin immediately the development of a universal, rational-minded citizenry converted to world peace, conscience of membership in a world fraternity of nations and people."

 

Smith ended her lecture with an evocative piece from her latest play, titled "Let Me Down Easy," which examines the international health care crisis, taking on the voice of a South African woman who cares for orphan children dying of AIDS.

 

"They always just want to say, 'Can we come back and visit you when we're dead?'" Smith said. "And I just tell them, 'You're always in my heart even if you pass away. You're always with me."