The life story of Scott Joplin and how he became the greatest ragtime composer of all time.
02-11-1977
1h 36m
THIS
HELLA
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Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Jeremy Kagan
Writer:
Christopher Knopf
Production:
Motown Productions, Universal Pictures
Key Crew
Executive Producer:
Rob Cohen
Producer:
Stanley Hough
Costume Design:
Bernard Johnson
First Assistant Director:
Jon C. Andersen
Sound Editor:
James Troutman
Locations and Languages
Country:
US
Filming:
US
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Billy Dee Williams
William December "Billy Dee" Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor, voice actor, and artist. He is best known as Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise, first in the early 1980s, and nearly forty years later in The Rise of Skywalker (2019), marking one of the longest intervals between onscreen portrayals of a character by the same actor in American film history.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Billy Dee Williams, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Margaret Avery (born January 20, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Shug in The Color Purple (1985).
Description above from the Wikipedia article Margaret Avery, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Godfrey MacArthur Cambridge (February 26, 1933 - November 29, 1976) was an American comedian and actor. Alongside Bill Cosby, Dick Gregory, and Nipsey Russell, he was acclaimed by Time magazine in 1965 as "one of the country's four most celebrated Negro comedians."
Description above from the Wikipedia article Godfrey Cambridge, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Seymour Joseph Cassel (January 22, 1935 – April 7, 2019) was an American actor. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Faces (1968).
Description above from the Wikipedia article Seymour Cassel, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
DeWayne Jessie (a.k.a. "Otis Day"; born September 21, 1951) is an American character actor best known for his portrayal of Otis Day in National Lampoon's Animal House. In the movie, the songs "Shama Lama Ding Dong" and "Shout" were sung by Lloyd G. Williams and lip-synched by Jessie.
In the 1980s, Jessie purchased the rights to the band name Otis Day and The Knights from Universal Studios and formed a real-life version of the band with some members of his family and toured the country for years afterward, with Jessie assuming the identity of Otis Day. The group released a concert video, Otis My Man, in 1987 and recorded an album, produced by George Clinton, that came out in 1989 titled Shout which flopped. It included updated versions of "Shout" and "Shama Lama Ding Dong" sung by Jessie.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mabel Elizabeth King (née Washington; December 25, 1932 - November 9, 1999) was an American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Mabel "Mama" Thomas on the ABC sitcom What's Happening!! from its premiere in 1976 until the end of its second season in 1978. King is also known for portraying Evillene the Witch, a role she originated in the stage musical The Wiz and reprised in Sidney Lumet's 1978 film adaptation. She recorded on the Rama Records and Amy Records labels.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mabel King, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Taj Mahal is an American blues musician, a self-taught singer-songwriter and film composer who plays the guitar, piano, banjo, and harmonica, among many other instruments.
Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best known for his role as Ed Norton on the sitcom The Honeymooners (1955–1956).
His film roles include Harry and Tonto (1974), The Late Show (1977), House Calls (1978), Going in Style (1979), Firestarter, The Muppets Take Manhattan (both 1984), and Last Action Hero (1993).
Description above from the Wikipedia article Art Carney, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
A rotund, jovial New Yorker, David Healy obligingly played every manner of stereotypical American in British films and on television for more than thirty years. The son of an Australian father and an American mother, he spent much of his youth in Texas. Studying at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, he majored in drama and befriended another young acting hopeful, named Larry Hagman. David first arrived in England as a member of the U.S. Air Force and soon wound up, along with Hagman, in the cast of a touring show written by John Briley. This later grew into The Airbase (1965), a 25-minute BBC sitcom (with David as Staff Sergeant Tillman Miller), which took a humorous look at British-American cultural differences at an RAF base.
Considering his job prospects to be rather more lucrative in Britain -- in keeping with the 'bigger fish, smaller pond' theory - David soon found himself in almost continuous demand for any part which required an affable or imperious American. His long gallery of characters included diplomats, businessmen, bureaucrats, spooks, military brass, and so on. There were rare occasions, when he acted against type and played 'Britishers' -- a notable point in case being a likeable Dr. Watson, opposite charismatic Ian Richardson as Sherlock Holmes, in The Sign of Four (1983). His comedic side was showcased in guest appearances with Dick Emery and Kenny Everett and a with couple of turns in Jeeves and Wooster (1990).
Though married and settled in Surrey, David took job offers on both sides of the Atlantic. He was glimpsed as a cleric in Patton (1970) and in Robert Aldrich's doomsday thriller Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977); well-cast as Teddy Roosevelt in Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977); and he had recurring roles in TV's favourite soapie of the day, Dallas (1978). British TV audiences saw him guesting in just about every major crime series, from The Saint (1962) and Department S (1969), to The Persuaders! (1971). Simultaneously, from 1967, David pursued a successful career as a stage actor in classical plays with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. In 1975, he re-visited his roots, playing Falstaff at a Shakespeare festival in Dallas. Ever versatile, David found another calling in musicals, appearing in "Kismet", "Call Me Madam" and "The Music Man". He received much praise for his interpretation of Runyonesque gambler Nicely-Nicely Johnson (played definitively on screen by Stubby Kaye) in "Guys and Dolls", performing show-stopping encores of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat".
- IMDb Mini Biography By: I.S.Mowis
Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American screenwriter, novelist and film director known for low-budget genre movies with controversial themes.
He was born Samuel Michael Fuller in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Benjamin Rabinovitch, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, and Rebecca Baum, a Jewish immigrant from Poland. After immigrating to America, the family's surname was changed from Rabinovitch to "Fuller" possibly by inspiration of a Doctor who arrived in America on the Mayflower. At the age of 12, he began working in journalism as a newspaper copyboy. He became a crime reporter in New York City at age 17, working for the New York Evening Graphic. He broke the story of Jeanne Eagels' death. He wrote pulp novels and screenplays from the mid-1930s onwards. Fuller also became a screenplay ghostwriter but would never tell interviewers which screenplays that he ghost-wrote explaining "that's what a ghost writer is for".
During World War II, Fuller joined the United States Army infantry. He was assigned to the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, and saw heavy fighting. He was involved in landings in Africa, Sicily, and Normandy and also saw action in Belgium and Czechoslovakia. In 1945 he was present at the liberation of the German concentration camp at Falkenau and shot 16 mm footage which was used later in the documentary Falkenau: The Impossible. For his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, and the Purple Heart. Fuller used his wartime experiences as material in his films, especially in The Big Red One (1980), a nickname of the 1st Infantry Division.
After his controversial film "White Dog" was shelved by Paramount pictures, Fuller moved to France, and never directed another American film. Fuller eventually returned to America. He died of natural causes in his California home. In November 1997, the Directors Guild held a three hour memorial in his honor, hosted by Curtis Hanson, his long time friend and co-writer on White Dog. He was survived by his wife Christa and daughter Samantha.
Denise Georgette Gordy is a daughter of George and Rosemary Gordy and sister of Patrice and George Gordy, Jr., among others. Motown founder Berry Gordy is her uncle; her aunt is Anna Gordy Gaye. Gordy has appeared in numerous television and theatrical features, beginning in 1972 with Lady Sings the Blues as a dancer in the nightclub chorus. In 1974, Gordy appeared in Black Fist and ending most recently with Toy Soldiers in 1991. Gordy also has contributed vocals to the soundtrack album for the film Black Fist, which was originally titled Bogard, as well as recording the song "Let's Do It Again" for that same movie.
Gordy was married to actor Richard Lawson from December 31, 1978 until 1989. They share one child, actress Bianca Lawson. Gordy is also the biological mother of Marvin Gaye III, who was born on November 17, 1965 when she was sixteen years old. His biological father, singer Marvin Gaye, was twenty six years old and married to Gordy's aunt Anna at the time. She agreed to give birth to the child because her aunt was unable to conceive. Shortly after Marvin III's birth, Anna adopted him.
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recording the hit singles "Easy", "Sail On", "Three Times a Lady" and "Still", with the group before his departure. In 1980, he wrote and produced the US Billboard Hot 100 number one single "Lady" for Kenny Rogers.
In 1981, Richie wrote and produced the single "Endless Love", which he recorded as a duet with Diana Ross; it remains among the top 20 bestselling singles of all time, and the biggest career hit for both artists. In 1982, he officially launched his solo career with the album Lionel Richie, which sold over four million copies and spawned the singles "You Are", "My Love", and the number one single "Truly".
Richie's second album, Can't Slow Down (1983), reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold over 20 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time; and spawned the number one singles "All Night Long (All Night)" and "Hello". He then co-wrote the 1985 charity single "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson, which sold over 20 million copies. His third album, Dancing on the Ceiling (1986), spawned the number one single "Say You, Say Me" (from the 1985 film White Nights) and the No. 2 hit title track. From 1986 to 1996, Richie took a break from recording; he has since then released seven studio albums. He has joined the singing competition American Idol to serve as a judge, starting from its sixteenth season (2018 to present).
During his solo career, Richie became one of the most successful balladeers of the 1980s, and has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling artists of all time. He has won four Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year for "We Are the World", and Album of the Year for Can't Slow Down. "Endless Love" was nominated for an Academy Award; while "Say You, Say Me" won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe award for Best Original Song. In 2016, Richie received the Songwriters Hall of Fame's highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award. In 2022, he received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by the Library of Congress; as well as the American Music Awards Icon Award. He was also inducted into Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
Richie was born on June 20, 1949, in Tuskegee, Alabama, the son of Lionel Brockman Richie (1915–1990), a U.S. Army systems analyst, and Alberta R. Foster (1917–2001), a teacher and school principal. His grandmother Adelaide Mary Brown was a pianist who played classical music. On March 4, 2011, he appeared on NBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, which found out that his maternal great-grandfather was the national leader of an early Black American fraternal organization. Notably, J. Louis Brown was: [P]rincipal organizer and Supreme Grand Archon of the Knights of Wise Men, a fraternal organization for black men in the post-Civil War period. Formed in Nashville in 1879, it was a fraternal insurance and burial benefit society, as were so many others during the period. ...
Source: Article "Lionel Richie" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Eugene Jackson gained fame as Farina's older brother, Pineapple, in six of Hal Roach's "Our Gang" serials - "The Mysterious Mystery", "The Big Town", "Circus Fever", "Dog Days", "The Love Bug" and "Shootin Injuns". Besides films he sang and danced on the vaudeville circuit - billed as "Hollywood's most famous colored kid star". Most of his film roles were bit parts, most uncredited. He did appear as Diahann Carroll's Uncle Lou on TV's "Julia" and Redd Foxx's friend on "Sanford and Son". In later years he taught dance at studios he started in Compton and Pasadena. He trained several performers in the 1959 film Porgy and Bess. His work was featured in a dance retrospective for the 1993 Los Angeles Festival.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Ronald James Taylor (October 16, 1952 – January 16, 2002) was an American actor.
Chiefly famous for his role as Stanley in Vinnie and Bobby in 1992 he also had a host of other guest appearances in popular television to his name including providing the voice for "Bleeding Gums" Murphy in The Simpsons. He also starred in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a Klingon chef. He also originated the role of Audrey II in the original Off- Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors. Taylor's acting debut was in the 1983 comedy Trading Places where he was credited as Big Black Guy. Ron married Deborah Sharpe and they stayed married till his death, and they had a child named Adamah together.[1] The date they married is unknown.
He was also a writer for Forever Knight (1992) and The Sentinel (1996). On January 16, 2002 Taylor died of a heart attack at the age of 49. The Simpsons episode "Sweets and Sour Marge" was dedicated to him.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Ron Taylor, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
