Family, friends abuzz after Longview native wins Oscar

LONGVIEW — Relatives and Gregg County employees were abuzz about the "sweet" personality of Forest Steven Whitaker, a Longview native who on Sunday became the second East Texan in three years to win an Academy Award for best actor in a leading role.

"He was just as sweet as he could be," said Nancy Corneillie, a deputy at the county clerk's office that Whitaker visited in July 2004 to check on records for property he owns here. She said he posed for photos with several deputies. "He got a big kick out of those pictures."

Kevin Green/News-Journal Photo (enlarge photo) Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker's grandfather lives along Texas 149 near Lakeport. Whitaker's cousin, Carla Sanders, said Whitaker has maintained a low-key approach during his visits to East Texas, mainly to escape the pressures and paparazzi that come with stardom in Hollywood.

Whitaker, who was born in Longview but moved to Southern California with his family as a toddler, was honored for his performance as former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland." He joins Jamie Foxx, a Terrell native who claimed the best actor award in 2005 for his performance as Ray Charles.

Whitaker also won best actor awards at the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

He got his first onscreen role in 1982's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." It was the beginning of a career that has included at least 25 movies, including "Good Morning, Vietnam" (1987), "Panic Room" (2002) and "Jason's Lyric" (1994). He also directed "Waiting to Exhale" (1995), "Hope Floats" (1998) and "First Daughter" (2004).

Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony happened two days after Whitaker attended the funeral of his maternal grandmother, Estelle Buggs, at Longview's St. John's Baptist Church on Friday. He also attended his paternal grandmother's funeral here in December.

"I need a second to take it in," Whitaker, 45, said while composing himself during his acceptance speech Sunday. "When I was a kid, the only way that I saw movies was from the back seat of my family's car at the drive-in. It wasn't my reality to think I would be acting in movies.

"So receiving this honor tonight tells me that it's possible for a kid from East Texas, raised in South-Central Los Angeles, who believes in his dreams and commits himself to them with his heart, to touch them and to have them happen."

His father, Forest Whitaker Jr., was an insurance man and son of the late novelist Forest Whitaker Sr., whose home stands behind a locked chainlink fence on Texas 149 about three miles south of Lakeport. The actor's mother, Laura Francis Smith, put herself through college and earned two master's degrees while raising him, two younger brothers and an older sister.

Whitaker's family returned to East Texas each summer during his childhood years, and he still attends family reunions and get-togethers, his cousins say.

"I guess we were sad (at the funeral) that his grandmother had passed," said Daryl Williams, Whitaker's second cousin and mayor pro-tem of Longview. "On the happy side, everybody was congratulating him for being nominated for the Oscars, and I just went ahead and congratulated him for winning the Oscar."

The Oscar winner could serve as grand marshal at one of the city's parades, Williams said. "I would hope the city would try to do something to recognize him. He still recognizes Longview as his home. He's putting Longview on the national map."

Whitaker has maintained a low-key approach during his visits to East Texas, mainly to escape the pressures and paparazzi that come with stardom in Hollywood, according to Carla Sanders, Whitaker's first cousin.

"Whenever I'm around, he's the quiet person of the bunch," Sanders said. "You can tell he's great with kids. He gravitates more to the younger family members. You can tell he's humble and definitely not puffed up. He has just a quiet spirit, and you can tell in his voice."

Williams added, "When he comes to town here, I think he enjoys his time here being low key. He can get away from that type of media frenzy, and I think that's basically what he wants to do. He just wants to see the family, relax here and get back out of town and take care of his business."

Whitaker and his wife, Keisha, have four children; two daughters together, Sonnet and True; his son, Ocean, from a previous relationship; and her daughter, Autumn. He and his daughter, True, have recorded a public service announcement promoting vegetarianism on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.