Vernel Bagneris

Vernel Martin Bagneris (born July 31, 1949) is an American playwright, theater director, and entertainer.

Early life Bagneris was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, the third child of Gloria Diaz Bagneris and Lawrence Bagneris, Sr. His mother was a deeply Catholic housewife, and his father was a World War II veteran and postal clerk.

Bagneris grew up in the tight-knit, predominantly Creole Seventh Ward of New Orleans in a family of free people of color that had been in the city since 1750. He began dancing and playing music from early childhood.

In the mid-1960s, amid rapid changes in the character of the area, the Bagneris family moved to Gentilly, New Orleans, along with many other residents of the Seventh Ward. Bagneris was in the advanced placement track at St. Augustine High School. He graduated in 1967, and in the fall of the same year, he went to a seminary to study for the priesthood, though he stayed there only three days. the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and an Obie Award for Jelly Roll!, his two-person stage portrait of jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton. A record of the musical was produced and released on GHB Records. Other notable performances included a 2004 revival of Bubbling Brown Sugar, in which Bagneris starred with Diahann Carroll.

During this time, he also worked in film, including French Quarter (1978), Pennies from Heaven (1981), Down by Law (1986), and Ray (2004), in the latter of which he worked as choreographer and played the character Dancin' Al. Bagneris also played opposite Ossie Davis in Davis's last film, the independent feature Proud (2004). One Mo' Time was revived on Broadway in 2002 and again in New Orleans in 2006. Bagneris acted as the voice of numerous jazz figures on Public Radio International's Riverwalk Jazz program in 1993, recreating the lives of Bunk Johnson, Danny Barker, Jelly Roll Morton, and others. In the program for a special performance in the new auditorium at the Library of Congress, Bagneris was described as "a master of the American vernacular."

In October 2005, shortly after the city was significantly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Bagneris returned to live in New Orleans, settling in the French Quarter.

Bagneris had a recurring role as Judge Bernard Williams on the first three seasons of the HBO series Treme (2010–2013).