Andre G. Gray has come aboard Grey New York as an executive creative director.
During his career, Gray has led global campaigns for Adidas, Gatorade and Nissan. A native of San Francisco, he has spent five years in Paris and three years in Amsterdam at TBWA/NEBOKO as global creative director. Most recently, he spent a stint at Eleven in his hometown as executive creative director.
“We are so lucky to have Andre’s extraordinary talent at Grey,” said Justine Armour, chief creative officer of Grey NY. “In addition to all his professional achievements, Andre is deeply committed to advocating for underrepresented voices. He is already shaping our work and our culture to drive equality and make us a more inclusive company.”
Gray is the author of Digital Anthropomorphism: Humanizing the Brand. The book lays the foundation for understanding the way brands leverage our natural psychological tendency to understand things in human terms.
“There is a palpable energy and momentum building at Grey,” said Gray. “My initial conversations with John Patroulis (Grey Group’s worldwide CCO) and Justine Armour were very honest and centered around the creative possibilities where everyone can bring their entire selves to work, no matter their background or what they look like. They have welcomed me wholly and I am excited to build that type of environment with them.”
James Earl Jones, Lauded Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies At 93
James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, "The Lion King" and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.
The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of "The Gin Game" having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
"The need to storytell has always been with us," he told The Associated Press then. "I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in "Field of Dreams," the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit "The Great White Hope," the writer Alex Haley in "Roots: The Next Generation" and a South African minister in "Cry, the Beloved Country."
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader ("No, I am your father," commonly misremembered as "Luke, I am your father"), as... Read More