Although he may be most recognized as the hook-handed ghoul from the “Candyman” film franchise, veteran screen and stage actor Tony Todd shrugs off his horror movie fame.

“I’ve done a few horror films,” he says. “I’ve done more than 200 films, but I always come back to theater. Theater is my first love. Theater has nurtured me.”

Todd is performing in his first live theater production since being sidelined by the pandemic more than a year ago.

He stars in August Wilson’s “How I Learned What I Learned,” through July 11 at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, DeSales University, Center Valley, Upper Saucon Township.

The one-man show was originally performed by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wilson and follows the playwright’s life and artistic journey growing up in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

For Todd, it is familiar territory. He has had a lot of experience performing in Wilson’s plays. He starred in Wilson’s “Fences,” about Troy Maxson, a star of the Negro Leagues whose career ended before baseball was integrated.

The play was the second in Wilson’s series of 10 plays, known as The Pittsburgh Cycle, which chronicle the experiences and heritage of the black community in the 20th century.

Todd was originally supposed to once again star in a production of “Fences” last year at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival before the season was canceled because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The actor worked one on one with Wilson when Todd originated the title role in the world premiere of Wilson’s “King Hedley II” in 1999.

“It was quite amazing,” Todd says in a phone interview. “August was still alive and I took two years off from films to do that project. So, I know a bit about his quirks and mannerisms. But it’s his words that are front and center is this play.”

Also at PSF is director Christopher V. Edwards, who was to have directed the summer 2020 “Fences.”

“It’s been fantastic,” Todd says. “It’s been a great collaboration with Chris. We only had two weeks to rehearse, but I had started working on the script from home. Once I got here, we fleshed it out.”

Todd says that although “How I Learned What I Learned” is technically an autobiography, it is “more about the characters August met at a pivotal time in his life and who created an impact on him.”

Todd says in the play he talks about these many characters and then “inhabits them.”

“There is a beautiful sequence about August’s mother Daisy Wilson when she won a Speed Queen washing machine,” he says.

He also portrays a heroin addict, an illiterate man, a nun and the many women, good and bad, in Wilson’s life.

“Everyone has both good and bad,” Todd says. “It’s the human cycle. When you watch the play, you never know where August is going, and then you realize it’s not where he’s going, but the cornucopia of human experience.”

He says the play features projections of moments from Wilson’s life. The set is anchored by a writing desk with an old-fashioned typewriter.

“The remnants of his plays are all around like the circle of life,” Todd says. “He is giving honor and homage to the people who gave his life meaning.”

He says it has been very exciting to be back on stage after being sidelined for so long.

“I was even looking forward to the tech rehearsals because that’s when you see the magic come to life,” he says.

Todd says that despite his success in film, television and with voice-over work, he has always returned to the stage.

“Theater saved my life,” Todd says. “In high school, I was going through a growth spurt and was awkward. One of my teachers gave me a copy of ‘The Tempest’ and it was like reading a graphic novel.”

That experience led the six-foot-five actor to study theater at the Tony Award-winning Eugene O’Neill National Actors Theatre Institute in Connecticut.

“It was a fabulous program and the rest is history,” he says. “I got my first film role when Oliver Stone saw me in a play and put me in “Platoon.”

Stone saw Todd’s performance in “Johnny Got His Gun” at New York’s Westbank Theater in 1986, and offered Todd the role of Sgt. Warren in Stone’s breakthrough film.

Todd, with an acting career spanning more than 30 years, has 236 films to his credit on the Internet Movie Database website, including Oliver Stone’s Academy Award-winning “Platoon” (1986), “Lean On Me” (1989) with Morgan Freeman, and Clint Eastwood’s “Bird” (1988).

Todd is best-known for his title role in the “Candyman” theatrical feature film series (1992 - 1999). Todd reprises his role as Daniel Robitaille-Candyman in what’s billed as a “spiritual sequel” to “Candyman,” set for release Aug. 27, with a screenplay co-written by Jordan Peele (Oscar recipient, original screenplay, “Get Out,” 2018).

Todd played William Bludworth in the “Final Destination” movie franchise (2000 - 2011) and voiced The Fallen in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009), for which the opening sequence was filmed at the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. southside Bethlehem plant, now the site of SteelStacks.

On television, he had recurring roles on all three new versions of “Star Trek;” a recurring role on “Boston Public” and guest appearances on “Law & Order,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “The X-Files,” “24,” “21 Jump Street” and many more.

On stage, Todd won a Helen Hayes Award for his performance in Athol Fugard’s “The Captain’s Tiger”

Todd, who says he is enjoying the peaceful vistas of the Center Valley countryside, has worked in the region before.

In 2009, Todd portrayed boxer Jack Johnson in “Ghost in the House,” written by “Ghostbusters”’ Ernie Hudson and Frank Megna, which was performed at Kutztown University. In 1908, Johnson defeated Tommy Burns to become the first black heavyweight boxing champion.

The production was brought to the region by James “Doc” Ogden, a retired marketing professor at Kutztown University, and his wife Denise Ogden, an associate professor in marketing at Penn State Lehigh Valley.

Todd says the group is in talks to film the play.

“I have some connections here,” Todd says.

He says the best part is doing what he loves after “a year of lock-down and talking to my cats.

“It’s wonderful to interact with the other actors and see the joy in their face as they are going to rehearsal,” he says. ”There’s a happiness floating around.”

The performance of “How I Learned What I Learned” runs 90 minutes with no intermission. The plays contains adult subject matter, strong language and is recommended for ages 13 and older.

Because of licensing restrictions, the performance will not be available online, as are some of the other shows this summer at PSF.

There will be limited capacity and social distancing for the audience. Theater-goers are required to wear face masks during the performance.

The PSF 2021 Season Sponsor is Douglas Dykhouse. The Associate Season Sponsors are Linda Lapos and Paul Wirth, Kathleen Kund Nolan and Timothy E. Nolan, the Szarko Family, and Harry C. Trexler Trust.

“How I Learned What I Learned” previewed June 29 and 30. Opening night was July 1. The production continues through July 11. Curtain time is 6:30 p.m., Main Stage, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University. Tickets: www.pashakespeare.org; 610-282-9455

“Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com