Carmen Hayward

Carmen Hayward

Personal Details

Biography

Carmen Hayward was born in Los Angeles to Ann Frazier, a licensed vocational nurse, and Joseph Hayward, a plasterer from Louisiana. Her parents' separation led to her moving to Louisville, Kentucky with her mother and younger sister at the tender age of five, where she was surrounded by a large extended family and began to learn how to sing in front of an audience.

As her mother's career required relocation, Carmen and her sister moved to Washington D.C., where she entered junior high school. Her academic excellence earned her a spot as an A student at Roosevelt High School, where she also served as President of the Thespians Club, exploring her passion for theater.

Carmen returned to Los Angeles, reuniting with her father, and graduated from Dorsey High School before enrolling in LA City College, where she majored in theater. She received a scholarship to the U.S. International University's School of Performing and Visual Arts, performing in musical theater productions, and later transferred to UCLA, majoring in theater and performing in main stage musical productions.

With her associate's and bachelor's degrees in hand, as well as classes from the Inner City Cultural Center, Carmen began her career as a singer and actress, appearing in movies, television, public service announcements, and stage productions. She gained recognition for starring in Tide's "Old Fashioned Woman" commercial and touring nationally as a featured singer/dancer duo for Burt Bacharach and Anthony Newley.

Taking breaks from performing, Carmen pursued further education in television/film production and broadcasting at UCLA extension and USC, which led to work in advertising, publicity, and promotion for ABC Television and ABC Motion Pictures, as well as development at Taft Entertainment Television. She also worked on special events for the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and the Constitutional Rights Foundation.

In addition to her work in the entertainment industry, Carmen served as a producer for N-Vision Media Productions, developing a techno-thriller feature film, "Silent Deception." She has also produced digital theatrical productions, partnering with Ethiopian-Canadian novelist Ainalem Tebeje to create a Reader's Theatre production, "My Love Story, in Broken English," and performing as the narrator. Carmen has also written and directed "Civil Unrest Monologues," a multi-media stage production, in which she performed the role of "Jackie Broxton."

Carmen is married to Jeff Stetson, a television writer/producer and playwright, and they have one son, Anwar Stetson, a sports journalist.

Career

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1991
{"id":80941,"title":"The Great American Girl Robbery","year":"1979","character":"Betty","permalink":"https:\/\/streamfind.com\/us\/movie\/the-great-american-girl-robbery","type":"movie","srcset":{"1x":"https:\/\/img.streamfind.com\/img\/90x135\/thumbs\/movie_80941.jpg","2x":"https:\/\/img.streamfind.com\/img\/180x270\/thumbs\/movie_80941.jpg"},"released":1}
1979
{"id":86189,"title":"Boss Nigger","year":"1975","character":"Clara Mae","permalink":"https:\/\/streamfind.com\/us\/movie\/boss-nigger","type":"movie","srcset":{"1x":"https:\/\/img.streamfind.com\/img\/90x135\/thumbs\/movie_86189.jpg","2x":"https:\/\/img.streamfind.com\/img\/180x270\/thumbs\/movie_86189.jpg"},"released":1}
1975
Boss Nigger
Boss Nigger as Clara Mae