D. M. Cross

D. M. Cross was born in Philadelphia, PA and raised in Washington, DC. Her mother taught her how to write in cursive while she was still in the first grade. Her mother also gave her a diary when she was 10 years old so she could write about her adventures during the family’s summer vacations.

D. M. spent time during the boring bits at an all-girl Catholic high school by writing short stories based on contemporary TV shows and sharing them with chosen classmates. She discovered BOYS! (ahem, that is) acting while performing in musicals at Gonzaga High School. Fueled by the enthusiastic applause she received while playing Bloody Mary in South Pacific, D.M. decided to attend Northwestern University’s School of Speech (now the School of Communication) where she studied Theater and Radio-Television-Film. She was the recipient of the Zeta Phi Eta Award for Children’s Theater for her performances with Northwestern’s Theater 65.

After graduating with a B. S. in Theater, she returned to Washington, DC where she continued to perform on stage, TV and film and became a radio announcer for several radio stations in the District, suburban Washington and Baltimore. During her “radio days” she wrote commercials, promotional copy and critiques of movies and touring companies of Broadway shows. The tagline for her critique of 42nd St. appeared in the Washington Post.

While continuing to work in films shooting on location in Washington, D. M. recalled her fascination with African American millionairess Madam C. J. Walker, and decided to write a one-woman play based on her life. Madam was produced by the National Theater’s Monday Night at the National series and was the first play of their series to have a Standing Room Only audience. Madam was later performed at other locations including the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and Delaware Humanities Forum.

Her play, Black Roses, was produced by Young Audiences of Washington, DC. This one-woman show introduced audiences to historical African Americans Phillis Wheatley, Mary McLeod Bethune and “Stagecoach Mary” Fields.

She wrote articles for In Motion magazine and The Corridor Today. She produced and self-published Cross Cultures, a newsletter for cross-cultural families, like hers. She has more than 160 written contributions on Trip Advisor. Since 2015 she has written the introductory Film Notes and discussion questions for her Film Appreciation class.

She taught her first film class, The Language of Film at Howard Community College (HCC) in Maryland. She conducted her first iteration of Ebony Images as a six-hour seminar; part of HCC’s Senior Adult Summer Institute. Later, she taught Ebony Images as a regular course at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

Currently, D. M. is working on several projects including the screenplay version of her short story A Long Way From Home; a play about Bessie Colman; and Ebony Images: The African American Film Experience which will combine her love of film and history.

Her other creative outlets are gardening and sewing. She has created many cosplays (costumes) for herself and her clients. Her costume for a Bridgerton Ball helped her become The Queen’s Diamond (Bridgerton fans will get this).

D. M., her husband of 30+ years and their daughter live in Maryland. She gives a hearty shout out to her husband for sticking with her that long.
 

Recent Appearances/Events