Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first Black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. In 1999, he was ranked among the "American Film Institute's 100 Stars". Poitier was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
Eugene Kal Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune who co-hosted movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert.
Ghost Dad is a 1990 American fantasy comedy film directed by Sidney Poitier and starring Bill Cosby, in which a widower's spirit is able to communicate with his children after his death. It was a box office disaster.
Ernest Lee Thomas is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Roger "Raj" Thomas on the 1970s ABC sitcom What's Happening!!, and its 1980s syndicated sequel, What's Happening Now!!, and for his recurring role as Mr. Omar on Everybody Hates Chris.
Leonard Part 6 is a 1987 American spy parody film. It was directed by Paul Weiland and starred Bill Cosby, who also produced the film and wrote its story. The film also starred Gloria Foster as the villain, and Joe Don Baker. The film was shot in the San Francisco Bay Area. It earned several Golden Raspberry Awards; Cosby himself denounced and disowned it in the press in the weeks leading up to its release.
Stir Crazy is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Sidney Poitier, written by Bruce Jay Friedman, produced by Hannah Weinstein, and starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor as two unemployed friends who are given 125-year prison sentences after getting framed for a bank robbery. While in prison they befriend other prison inmates. The film reunited Wilder and Pryor, who had appeared previously in the 1976 comedy thriller film Silver Streak. The film was released in the United States on December 12, 1980 to mixed reviews, and was a major financial success.
Pocket Money is a 1972 American buddy-comedy film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, from a screenplay written by Terrence Malick and based on the 1970 novel Jim Kane by J. P. S. Brown. The film stars Paul Newman and Lee Marvin and takes place in 1970s Arizona and northern Mexico.
Boxcar Bertha is a 1972 American romantic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Roger Corman, from a screenplay by Joyce H. Corrington and John William Corrington. Made on a low budget, the film is a loose adaptation of Sister of the Road, a pseudo-autobiographical account of the fictional character Bertha Thompson. It was Scorsese's second feature film.
Uptown Saturday Night is a 1974 American action comedy and crime comedy film, written by Richard Wesley and directed by and starring Sidney Poitier, with Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte co-starring. Cosby and Poitier teamed up again for Let's Do It Again (1975) and A Piece of the Action (1977). Although Cosby's and Poitier's characters have different names in each film, the three films are considered a trilogy. Uptown Saturday Night premiered on June 15, 1974, at the Criterion Theatre in New York and opened to positive reviews.
A Piece of the Action is a soundtrack album by American rhythm and blues and gospel singer Mavis Staples, from the 1977 film of the same name. It was released on October 10, 1977, by Curtom Records.
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam is a 1987 American documentary film inspired by the anthology of the same title, directed by Bill Couturié. The film's narration consists of real letters written by American soldiers, which are read by actors, including Robert De Niro and Martin Sheen. The footage includes film from TV news, the U.S. Department of Defense and home movies by the soldiers.
Let's Do It Again is a 1975 American action crime comedy film, starring Sidney Poitier and co-starring Bill Cosby and Jimmie Walker among an all-star black cast. The film, directed by Poitier, is about blue-collar workers who decide to rig a boxing match to raise money for their fraternal lodge. The song of the same name by The Staple Singers was featured as the opening and ending theme of the film, and as a result, the two have become commonly associated with each other. The production companies include Verdon Productions and The First Artists Production Company, Ltd., and distributed by Warner Bros. The movie was filmed in two cities, Atlanta, Georgia and New Orleans, Louisiana, where most of the plot takes place. This was the second film pairing of Poitier and Cosby following Uptown Saturday Night, and followed by A Piece of the Action (1977). Of the three, Let's Do It Again has been the most successful both critically and commercially. Calvin Lockhart and Lee Chamberlin also appeared in Uptown Saturday Night. According to the American Film Institute, Let's Do It Again is not a sequel to Uptown Saturday Night.
The Squeeze is a 1987 American action comedy film directed by Roger Young and starring Michael Keaton and Rae Dawn Chong. The film was plagued by production problems, including going over budget.
Black Hollywood is the third album by hip hop duo Camp Lo, released on July 24, 2007, on Good Hands Records. It was the duo's first album in five years. The album was produced by long-time collaborator Ski, who had produced the majority of the group's first two albums, Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do It Again. The album features guest appearances from Ski and Jungle Brown, who appeared on the duo's debut. The album's first single was "Black Hollywood".
Harry and Walter Go to New York is a 1976 American period comedy film written by John Byrum and Robert Kaufman, directed by Mark Rydell, and starring James Caan, Elliott Gould, Michael Caine, Diane Keaton, Charles Durning and Lesley Ann Warren. In the film, two dimwitted con-men try to pull off the biggest heist ever seen in late nineteenth-century New York City. They are opposed by the greatest bank robber of the day, and aided by a crusading newspaper editor.
St. Ives is a 1976 American crime thriller film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Charles Bronson, John Houseman, Jacqueline Bisset, and Maximilian Schell.
Thieves is a 1977 American comedy film directed by John Berry, written by Herb Gardner, and starring Marlo Thomas, Charles Grodin and Irwin Corey. It was released on February 11, 1977, by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on Gardner's Broadway play, and has almost the same cast, with the main exception being that Charles Grodin is playing Martin rather than Richard Mulligan, though Grodin directed and produced the play.
Drive-In is a 1976 American comedy film directed by Rod Amateau and written by Bob Peete. The film stars Lisa Lemole, Gary Lee Cavagnaro, Glenn Morshower, Billy Milliken, Lee Newsom and Regan Kee. It was released on May 26, 1976, by Columbia Pictures.
American former comedian, actor, author, director, and producer Bill Cosby performed over a period of decades in film, television, and stand-up comedy. His longest-running live-action role was that of Cliff Huxtable in the sitcom The Cosby Show (1984-1992).
First Artists was a production company that operated from 1969 to 1980. Designed to give movie stars more creative control over their productions, the initial actors who formed First Artists were Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, and Sidney Poitier; later joined by Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. Movies made by First Artists include McQueen's The Getaway and the company's most successful film, Streisand's A Star Is Born.
