Howard Rollins Inducted into National Wax Museum

Ten years after his untimely death, actor Howard E. Rollins, Jr. has become the first Marylander to be inducted into the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum. The wax figure of the late Baltimore-born actor was unveiled last Thursday October 26 at the Classic Senator Theater on York Road.

Also at the impressive event that was sponsored by the Howard E. Rollins Foundation was the premiere of "An Evening with Howard", a fifty-five-minute documentary about the life of the Oscar-nominated actor.

Presenting the was figure, Dr. Joan Martin, co-founder of the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum - probably the first black history wax museum in the world - said she was enormously proud to be part of the effort to preserve Rollins' legacy. "We are aware of his tremendous contribution to film, theater, and acting, and we are also aware that he paved the way for so many actors who continue to come after him. We had a vision of permanently portraying the rich African American history in a major museum in wax figures, and in written and oral forms. Rollins fits right there with the rest. Tonight is also to help realize the dream of his family".

The unveiling of the life-size wax figure which was simulcast in the Senator Theater lobby, was done by the late actor's mother, assisted by his sister Hattie Fields, who is President and Chair of the Howard E. Rollins Foundation, Inc. Fields, and other members of this close-knit family, after which guests solemnly milled and interacted.