Colin "Topper" Carew

Colin "Topper" Carew

Educator, Activist, Filmmaker, Writer, Producer

Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections

2015

Moshe Kornfield, Scott Meyer, Elias Sacks, Stephanie Yuhas, Andrew Violet, Jane Thaler

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Colin “Topper” Carew (b. 1943) is best known as a community arts activist and as a film and television producer. The nickname “Topper” comes from the downed B-29 bomber his father, a radio operator, died in during World War II. After his father's death, Carew was raised in Boston by his grandfather, whom he credits with his commitment to education. In the early 1960s, Carew enrolled at Howard University in order to study architecture. He soon became involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and traveled south to participate in the 1964 Freedom Summer. Two years later, Carew left school to start the New Thing Art and Architecture Center, a highly successful neighborhood arts program for inner-city children. It was through his experiences as a community arts activist that Carew began his work as a filmmaker. Carew subsequently continued his education, earning B.A. and M.A. degrees in architecture from Yale and a Ph.D. in communications from Union Graduate School. By the 1980s, Carew had achieved success in television and was the only African-American producer developing shows for primetime. Carew is perhaps most widely known for his role as co-creator of Martin, a sitcom that aired for five seasons in the early 1990s. Currently, Carew works as a research scientist in the MIT Media Lab. His research focuses on how technology and innovation might address issues faced by the African-American community. Colin “Topper” Carew EDUCATOR ACTIVIST FILMMAKER - WRITER - PRODUCER