Search results
Feb 9, 2024 · A Houston attorney who pleaded guilty in the poisoning of his pregnant wife in an alleged attempt to induce an abortion has been sentenced to six months in jail, a term she criticized as not...
May 25, 2016 · And so Dubuc’s business affairs department entered into negotiations with Wolper, who held the Roots miniseries rights, and Marc Toberoff, the well-known intellectual property lawyer (he has won...
Nov 6, 2013 · History has acquired rights to the 12-hour original from Mark Wolper, the son of late "Roots" exec producer David L. Wolper, as well as the book on which the mini was based, "Roots: the...
- Kunta Kinte/Toby, Then: Levar Burton and John Amos
- Matilda, Now: Erica Tazel
- Belle, Then: Madge Sinclair
- Belle, Now: Emayatzy Corinealdi
- Alex Haley, Then: James Earl Jones
- Alex Haley, Now: Laurence Fishburne
- Tom Moore, Then: Chuck Connors
- Tom Lea, Now: Jonathan Rhys Meyers
- Mingo, Then: Scatman Crothers
- Mingo, Now: Chad L. Coleman
Burton was only 19 when he played Kunta Kinte, a warrior of the Mandinka people in Gambia who is captured by slavers and taken to Annapolis, Md. Burton received an Emmy nod—Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Performance in a Drama or Comedy Series—for his first role and is a co-executive producer for the remake. “Every day on the set, it was like ...
Erica Tazel, who had a breakout role in FX’s Justified, is set to play Matilda. “There are many representations of strong and resilient women throughout the miniseries,” she said. “We are literally the physical carriers of the lineage that begins with Kunta and ends with Alex Haley.”
Madge Sinclair was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Single Appearance Drama Series for her role as Kunta’s wife. She went on to voice Mufasa’s lion queen, Saraba, in The Lion King and portray Queen Aoleon in Coming to America. She diedin 1995.
Emayatzy Corinealdi on the impact of Roots amid other on-screen productions about slavery: “It’s an honor to do something that’s … made such an indelible mark on culture and society,” she said. “It’s so much bigger than me. It’s exciting to have all of these things out at the same time because they’re so different.”
After portraying the author of the novel the miniseries is based on, James Earl Jones became more widely known for his booming voice as Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in The Lion King. In this scene from Roots: The Next Generations,he finds the roots of his ancestry in Gambia.
Black-ish star Laurence Fishburne is portraying Alex Haley in version 2.0. “Not unlike the Holocaust, part of the reason that people retell that story over and over and over again is so that people don’t forget what happened,” Fishburne said.
Chuck Connors played Tom Moore, a poor farmer who rapes Kizzy and fathers her son, Chicken George. Over his 40-year career, Connors was best-known for his rough and rugged roles in more than 130 films and TV series, including Big Country and The Rifleman. Connors, who also played professional basketball and baseball, was nominated for an Emmy Award...
Jonathan Rhys Meyers portrays Tom Lea, the father of Chicken George. “My portrayal of Tom Lea is of somebody who sees the advantage of having such a splendid young son,” Meyers said. “There is that pinhole of love in him—otherwise he would not be a character; he would be a cartoon. And I take that responsibility as an actor to play it how it was.”
Scatman Crothers played a cock trainer at the Lea plantation who develops a father-son relationship with Chicken George. Prior to Roots, Crothers co-starred on TV’s Chico and the Man for four seasons as Louie the garbage collector. Shortly after Roots, he won a Saturn Award for his role in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. He diedin 1986.
Chad Coleman, who is best-known for his roles in The Wire and The Walking Dead, said that the retelling of Roots should resonate with audiences now because of racial and social tensions in today’s America. “We’re talking about ineffective systems, the same thing The Wire was probing. Systems that—you find, what is your motive? What are we trying to...
Aug 27, 2024 · DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN) — A former Houston County prosecutor accused of abusing his position for sexual favors wants to be set free before a judge imposes his sentence next month. On Tuesday, Mark...
At The Wolper Organization, legacy isn’t just a word—it’s a living tribute to the enduring impact we’ve had on the entertainment industry. Founded by the iconic David L. Wolper and now led by the visionary Mark Wolper, our journey is a multi-generational tapestry of storytelling.
Jan 18, 2024 · The iconic fitness guru Richard Simmons has denounced the forthcoming biopic starring Pauly Shore, helmed by Warner Bros. subsidiary The Wolper Organization.
