Guyanese-American actress Rhona Fox was last week honoured with the Rising Sun Award at the Caribbean Heritage ‘Salute to Hollywood & the Arts’ gala in Hollywood, California.
According to a press release, she was honoured with actor Reno Wilson, who currently stars on “Mike & Molly” on CBS and is of Antiguan heritage and Paula Madison, a former vice-president of NBC Universal and part owner of WNBA Los Angeles Sparks team, who is of Jamaican heritage.
According to her website, Rhona has appeared in the film Beware The Night, and on television in a CBS pilot “Made In Jersey”; “Law & Order: SVU” in an episode title ‘Educated Guess’; “The Good Wife” as a stand-in for Archie Panjabi and as a stand-in for Reshma Shetty on “Royal Pains”.
Meanwhile, the release said that the Caribbean Heritage Organisation has been hosting the awards since 2007 and selected Rhona as this year’s emerging actor. The Rising Sun is awarded to one actor of Caribbean heritage each year. In her acceptance speech, Rhona was quoted as saying that she was humbled to receive the prestigious honour and shared it with everyone attending. “I’m so thrilled to receive the Rising Sun Award from the Caribbean Heritage Organisztion and had an amazing time celebrating this incredible recognition in true Hollywood fashion,” the release quoted Rhona as saying. “All this support encourages me to keep chasing this crazy dream of mine and I look forward to making my Caribbean people proud.”
The red carpet event, which also served as a fundraiser for local charities and a scholarship in Haiti, took place at the Hilton Universal City.
The awards were presented to the three honorees, with video tributes introducing each person.
Marva Herman, Executive Director of the Caribbean Heritage Organization and its founder Dr. Claire Nelson, who presented the award to Rhona, both saluted her.
Rhona Fox was born in Essequibo and relocated with her family to Nassau, Bahamas when she was 10. She later migrated to New York to attend university. The release said that in 2012, she was “awarded Guyana’s Golden Arrowhead Award” along with “the City of New York Proclamation, for her contributions to the arts”.
