Eriq LaSalle, who plays Dr. Peter Benton on the television show ER, has become one of my favorites. Did he always want to be an actor?
—Luisa M., New Mexico
LaSalle remembers once how his third-grade classmates were transfixed as they watched his older cousin perform a dance in school. "There was something about that experience I wanted to know more about," he recalls. After a college degree in theater arts, he launched a career that included work on Broadway, off-Broadway, television, and behind the camera as a writer, director, and producer. Others also admire his work on ER. The role earned him the 1999 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, as well as Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
