Walter DeShields is an Artist/Performer/Educator/Scholar born and raised in South Philadelphia. While Walter is mostly recognized for his performance career in Philadelphia, it is the nearly two decades in service, mentorship and educational leadership which are at the core of his work and values.

Walter has been committed to moving our community forward and being responsible for bringing arts and activism to the Philadelphia community.  As a collaborator with Public Health Management Corporation, Communities In Schools of Philadelphia, the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Education Fund, Walter has created sustainable programming and cultivated special relationships that have built the foundation of his arts activism.

As a theater and film actor, Walter is co-founder and co-artistic director for Theater in the X; a professional  theater company created in 2013 to provide residents of West Philadelphia and the African American community at large the opportunity to see professional quality theater in their own neighborhood for no cost. Recent onstage performances include Beast of Nubia, Egoli, Buried Child, and Sweat for which he received a Barrymore Award nomination.  Recent film performances include The Line, Without You, 3 Women and If it Ain't Got That Swing. Walter holds a BA in English and Theatre from Penn State University and works as a facilitator for a theater based sexual health intervention called BrotherSpeak with young men in Philadelphia. 

Walter teaches theatre in Eastern University's Prison Education Program and on the Saint Davids campus.