Lawrence Whitener

Lawrence Whitener was born and raised in Washington, D.C. His father's best friend Joe Higgins plays Nils the Blacksmith on "The Rifleman" and later Jake Shakespeare in "Arrest and Trial." Larry's father died when he was young and "Uncle Joe" stood in calling every week with which television show he could be seen. When Joe died in 1998, "Gods & Generals" was casting for Extras in D.C. Lawrence decided to be in "one" movie to honor his uncle's memory. Lawrence was hooked and trained with every acting coach in NYC that would teach him. A wardrobe mistake in "Wish You Well" bumped him to co-star and gave him two opportunities 1) join SAG/Aftra and 2) heed Producer David Baldacci's advice to follow his own dream of becoming a writer. Lawrence enrolled in Yale Professor Marc Lapadula's class and spent the next four years learning screenwriting. During this same time, Lawrence also volunteered at his local television station where he became a cameraman, floor director, control-booth director, producer, and talent. Lawrence's motto became "Go everywhere, do everything, meet everybody, and don't care about getting paid." While appearing in over 94 films earning him 10 Best Actor awards. Lawrence wrote a short script about his older brother's death and produced it as a TV Play. It was so well received, he shot it again on location in Baltimore. "RevelationZ" is streaming on Amazon Video. Lawrence went on to write, produce, and direct 13 more award-winning SAG-Aftra short films with his "Saving Robin Williams" also streaming on Amazon. While doing all of the above, Lawrence wrote 25 feature screenplays of every genre with another 20 in rough draft. Professor Lapadula told Lawrence to "move to L.A., you're that good." Unfortunately, Lawrence's wife of 35 years refused to let him go so he gave her everything and drove across county with literally nothing. Once in L.A., he worked at Disney and met all the A-Listers, Writer, Directors, and Producers he had always admired. He shot his 10th short film "Consequential" in Santa Ana and the following year "In-Closure" on Crenshaw Blvd. In 2024, it screened at TCL Chinese Theaters on Hollywood Blvd to a standing ovation. Lawrence found actor Geoffrey Blake's story about his best friend's suicide so touching, he went home that day and wrote then shot his 12th short film "Its All Good...not" with Brian Anthony Wilson. In 2025, Lawrence is finally shooting his 14th short film "Weapon of Choices" that was shut down by the 2020 Pandemic. Knowing that only 1% of 1% actually "make it" in this Business, Lawrence wakes up everyday smiling as he works on his next screenplay and plans his next film.