Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years | |
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Based on | Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years by Sarah Louise Delany |
Written by | Emily Mann |
Directed by | Lynne Littman |
Starring | |
Composers | |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Tony Amatullo |
Cinematography | Frank Byers |
Editor | Brent White |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | April 18, 1999 |
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years is a 1999 American made-for-television drama film directed by Lynne Littman. The film is an adaptation of the 1993 biography Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years written by Sarah Louise Delany (nicknamed "Sadie"), Annie Elizabeth Delany, and journalist Amy Hill Hearth. The telefilm adaptation was written by Emily Mann, who also adapted the book for the Broadway stage (1995). The film first aired on CBS on April 18, 1999, just three months after Sadie died.
The daughters of a former slave who became the first African-American elected bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States, the sisters were Civil Rights pioneers but were unknown until journalist Amy Hill Hearth interviewed them for a feature story in The New York Times in 1991. The sisters were then 101 and 103 years old.
Sadie, the older of the sisters, was the first African-American permitted to teach Domestic Science at the high school level in the New York City public schools. Bessie was the second African-American woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York State. The biopic deals with the trials and tribulations they faced during a century of life. The sisters share their stories with Ms. Hearth, the journalist (and later, the co-author of their book). Pivotal scenes are re-enacted through flashbacks.
Ron Wertheimer of The New York Times called the film "clearly a labor of love . . . an engrossing drama built on characters who are at once exceptional and accessible . . . Ms. Carroll and Ms. Dee embody the sisters in middle and old age. Their performances occasionally threaten to glide into caricature but more often capture the women's complementary strengths and frailties and their extraordinary bond." [1]
In his review in Variety , David Kronke said, "Anchored by two excellent performances by Diahann Carroll and Ruby Dee, this is a solidly affecting telepic that rarely preaches or hits a false note . . . By film's end, the viewer feels there truly is a history between these two characters. Supporting performances are strong, with Lonette McKee a standout as the sisters' mother." [2]
Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany was an American educator and civil rights pioneer. She was the subject, along with her younger sister Bessie, of the oral history biography, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, by journalist Amy Hill Hearth. Sadie was the first African American to teach domestic science at the high-school level in the New York public schools. With the publication of the book about the sisters, she became famous at the age of 103.
Diahann Carroll was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. Carroll was the recipient of numerous nominations and awards for her stage and screen performances, including a Tony Award in 1962, Golden Globe Award in 1968, and five Emmy Award nominations.
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Ruby Dee was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist. Dee was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005. She received numerous accolades, including a Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Obie Award, and a Drama Desk Award, as well as a nomination for an Academy Award. She was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1995, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2000, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004.
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Annie Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany was an American dentist and civil rights pioneer. She was the subject, along with her elder sister, Sadie, of the oral history, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, written by journalist Amy Hill Hearth. Delany had earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree from Columbia University in 1923, and was the second black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York state. With the publication of the book, she became famous at the age of 101.
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Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years is a 1993 New York Times bestselling book that was compiled by Amy Hill Hearth and contains the oral history of Sarah "Sadie" L. Delany and A. Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany, two civil rights pioneers who were born in the late 19th century to a former slave. Their stories were largely unknown until The New York Times reporter Amy Hill Hearth interviewed them for a feature story in 1991, and the popular story was expanded into book form.
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Amy Hill Hearth is an American journalist and author who focuses on uniquely American stories and perspectives from the past. She is the author or co-author of eleven books, beginning in 1993 with the oral history Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, a New York Times bestseller for 117 weeks, according to its archives. The book was adapted for Broadway in 1995 and for a film in 1999.
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Hubert Thomas Delany was an American lawyer and civil rights pioneer, and politician. He served as Assistant U.S. Attorney, the first African American appointed as Tax Commissioner of New York and one of the first African Americans appointed as a judge in New York City. Judge Delany was on the board of Directors for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Harlem YMCA, and became an active leader in the Harlem Renaissance. He also served as a Vice President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
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