Darius Kaleb is an American actor and musician that achieved recognition through his role in the Netflix original Luke Cage , as well as playing parts in multiple shows on Broadway. Kaleb also featured in a Japanese live show tour as a fictional Michael Jackson.
He and his siblings formed the band, The Brothers Harris, with Kaleb himself acting as the drummer. They were all home-schooled.[ citation needed ]
Kaleb plays the character “Lonnie Wilson” in the Netflix original series Luke Cage . [1] The character depicts the struggles of black youth in modern American society, and deals with social issues pertinent to that culture. His role as Lonnie Wilson addresses issues surrounding police brutality towards young African Americans. [2] [3]
Lonnie Wilson is a kid from Harlem, where the show is located. He meets Luke Cage, the main character, who looks out for him on the streets. Lonnie is taken into custody for questioning about Luke Cage, and is given a brutal beating by one of the police officers. This leads to a leak of the abusive treatment to the media by corrupt politicians—for their own benefit. In this role, he is a supporter of Luke's whom he knows is innocent of the crimes he has allegedly committed.
In this independent film written by Eddie B. Harris, Kaleb plays "Omar" the son of the main character "Brian". Kaleb's character in the film is a symbol of what his father had lost and what he was striving to regain by taking steps toward redemption. [4] [5]
ABC Network has cast Darius Kaleb as "Jamaal", the younger brother, in Whoopi Goldberg and Jermaine Fowler's new pilot series Delores and Jermaine. [6] [4]
The new pilot is about Jermaine, a young millennial who after being kicked out of his house, moves in with his grandmother Delores, who after quitting her job as a DC cop never leaves her home anymore. The two of them end up needing each other more than they would have thought, as Jermaine is in need of parental guidance, while Delores needs a push to get her back into the world. [7]
Kaleb has had a career on Broadway. He played parts in multiple shows, alongside some big celebrities. When he was 11 years old, Kaleb starred in the play A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry, which also starred LaTanya Richardson and Denzel Washington. [8] He also starred in the hit Broadway musical, Motown the Musical written by Berry Gordy Jr. Kaleb was the youngest actor in the musical, and even played three roles; those of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Berry Gordy Jr. himself. However, before performing on Broadway in NYC, Kaleb toured Japan, where he played the role of young Michael Jackson in Thriller Live. [9]
Aside from plays, he also has his foot in the door in the music industry. He started a band, The Brothers Harris, along with his twin brothers who attend Berklee College of Music, with him being the drummer. He also has a love for singing and produces music as well. [8]
Darius Kaleb and his family live in Charles County, Maryland. His older twin brothers are also involved in the performing arts—they are both musicians and the three brothers enjoy playing together. [9]
Kaleb supports the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Cowboys.
With all of the success that Kaleb has enjoyed, he received no formal training. His gift comes from being part of a musically and artistically talented family. He has also ventured into writing and is currently working on a short film called "The Audition". [8]
Kaleb was awarded the Black Essence Hall of Fame/Youth Division recognition.[ when? ] [2]
Berry Gordy III, known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and its subsidiaries, which was the highest-earning African-American business for decades.
Toriano Adaryll "Tito" Jackson is an American singer. He was an original member of the Jackson 5, who rose to fame in the late 1960s and 1970s with the Motown label, and later had continued success with the group on the Epic label in the late 1970s and 1980s. Tito began a solo career in 2003 performing as a blues musician.
Jermaine La Jaune Jackson is an American singer, and a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of The Jackson 5, and played bass guitar. Since 1983 he rejoined the group, now known as The Jacksons.
Marlon David Jackson is an American entertainer, singer and dancer best known as a member of the Jackson 5. He is the sixth child of the Jackson family. Marlon now runs Study Peace Foundation to promote peace and unity worldwide.
Kennedy William Gordy, better known by his stage name Rockwell, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. Rockwell is most well known for his hit 1984 single "Somebody's Watching Me" which features Michael Jackson on the chorus vocals. He is the son of Motown founder Berry Gordy. Other relatives include singers Redfoo, Rhonda Ross Kendrick, and Sky Blu; they are his half-siblings and half-nephew, respectively.
The Jacksons: An American Dream is a five-hour American miniseries broadcast in two halves on ABC and originally broadcast on November 15 through November 18, 1992. It is based upon the history of the Jackson family, one of the most successful musical families in show business, and the early and successful years of the popular Motown group The Jackson 5.
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special, produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to commemorate Motown's 25th year. The program was taped before a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983, and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Among its highlights were Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean", Smokey Robinson's long-awaited reunion with The Miracles, a Temptations / Four Tops "battle of the bands", Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about black music history and his memorable performance of "What's Going On", a Jackson 5 reunion, and an abbreviated reunion of Diana Ross & the Supremes, who performed their final #1 hit, "Someday We'll Be Together" from 1969. The show was co-written by de Passe with Ruth Adkins Robinson who would go on to write shows with de Passe for the next 25 years, including the follow-up label tributes—through "Motown 40", Buz Kohan was the head writer.
Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5 is the debut studio album from Gary, Indiana-based soul family band the Jackson 5, released on the Motown label on December 12, 1969. The Jackson 5's lead singer, a preteenage boy named Michael, and his four older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon, became pop successes within months of this album's release. Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5's only single, "I Want You Back", became a number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 within weeks of the album's release. The album reached number 5 on the US Pop Albums chart, and spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the US R&B/Black Albums chart.
The Jackson 5ive is a Saturday morning cartoon series that aired on ABC from September 11, 1971 to October 14, 1972. Produced by Rankin/Bass and Motown Productions, it is a fictionalized portrayal of the careers of Motown recording group the Jackson 5. The series was rebroadcast in syndication between 1984 and 1985, during a period when Michael Jackson was riding a major wave of popularity as a solo artist. It also briefly re-aired in 1999 on TV Land as part of their "Super Retrovision Saturdaze" lineup. The series was animated mainly in London at the studios of Halas and Batchelor, and some animation done at Estudios Moro and Topcraft.
Frankie Russel Faison is an American actor known for his role as Deputy Commissioner, and, later, Commissioner, Ervin Burrell in the HBO series The Wire, as Barney Matthews in the Hannibal Lecter franchise, and as Sugar Bates in the Cinemax series Banshee.
Ronald Norman Miller was an American popular songwriter and record producer who wrote for Motown artists in the 1960s and 1970s and attained many Top 10 hits. Some of his songs, such as "For Once in My Life," have become pop standards.
The Gordys are an African-American family of businesspeople and music industry executives. They were born to Georgia-reared parents Berry "Pops" Gordy Sr. and Bertha Fuller Gordy and raised in Detroit, where most of the siblings played a pivotal role in the international acceptance of rhythm and blues music as a crossover phenomenon in the 1960s. The accomplishment is attributable to the creation of Motown, a company founded by the seventh-oldest sibling, Berry Gordy Jr.
The Jackson 5 are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, by Joe Jackson, as well as by brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine, with younger brothers Marlon and Michael joining soon after.
Brandon Victor Dixon is an American actor, singer and theatrical producer. As a musical theatre actor, he is known for Tony Award-nominated Broadway performances as Harpo in the 2005 musical The Color Purple and Eubie Blake in Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed (2016). He originated both roles, as well as the leading role of Berry Gordy Jr. in Motown: The Musical (2013) on Broadway, which earned a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. In 2016, Dixon assumed the role of Aaron Burr in the Broadway company of Hamilton. Off-Broadway as well as in London's West End, Dixon played the role of Hayward Patterson in The Scottsboro Boys and was nominated for a 2014 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.
Motown: The Musical is a jukebox musical that premiered on Broadway in April 2013. The musical is based on Berry Gordy's autobiography To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown (1994), and on the history of his founding and running of the Motown record label, and his personal and professional relationships with Motown artists such as Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and Michael Jackson. The production's music and lyrics are taken from selections from the Motown catalog. It received four nominations at the 67th Tony Awards.
Marilyn McLeod was an American songwriter and occasional singer. McLeod began her career as a songwriter for Motown. Together with Pam Sawyer, she wrote the 1976 Diana Ross hit "Love Hangover".
Big Ben Donovan is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The first season of the American streaming television series Luke Cage, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, follows a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who fights crime in Harlem, New York. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Cheo Hodari Coker serving as showrunner.
The second and final season of the American streaming television series Luke Cage, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, sees Cage become a hero and celebrity in Harlem after clearing his name, only to face a new threat. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Cheo Hodari Coker serving as showrunner.