Anna Deveare Smith Wins Gish Prize

Baltimore native Anna Deveare Smith will pocket $300,000 as this year's recipient of the Dorothy & Lillian Gish Prize. Smith, a Western grad, appears in Nurse Betty, but she's best known for brilliant one-woman shows such as Fires in the Mirror and Let Me Down Easy, a highlight of Arena Stage's 2011 season. Smith's Aunt Lorraine, a retired Baltimore school teacher and character in Let Me Down Easy, must be proud.