Lawrence Whitener was raised in Washington, D.C. His father's best friend Joe Higgins played 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" would call 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 see 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 the 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 five years learning screenwriting. During this same time, Lawrence 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 90 films earning him 10 Best Actor awards, Lawrence worked at his local television station as a cameraman and floor director until he was Directing two shows. Lawrence wrote a short script about his only 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 now playing on Amazon Prime video. Lawrence went on to write, produce, and direct 9 more award-winning SAG-Aftra short films with his "Saving Robin Williams" now also streaming on Amazon Prime. While doing all of the above, Lawrence wrote 25 feature screenplays of every genre with another 15 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. Lawrence gave her everything and drove across county at age 70 divorced 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 Anna 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 13th 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.