,
ENTERTAINMENT
IN BRIEF
· King ination
cover-up to hit
big screen oon
La t y ar, in our (1 di
'pedal r p rt on Jam arl
Ray, w delved into the P -
ibilitie f a government
cover-up in th .. ination f
M rtin Luth r King Jr. Ray.
the m n rving a 9 -ycar
pri on term for the murder,
ay th United State govern­
ment is re ponsible for King'
a in lion.
Now, independent producer
Leonard Hill thinkS 0 too. Hi
company ha marked "Slay
The Dreamer" its first full­
length feature. "Dream r"
will pre nt a strong ca 'that
the FBI attempt d to bl ckmail
King by exposing, among
other thing, hi alleged mari­
tal i nfideli tie .
Ac ording to Hill, by dis­
crediting King, -Ihe FBJ had
hope f tearing out the heart of
the civil right movement.
Data for the film ha been
retrieved from government
do uments and various inter­
view. Rev. J mes Law on,
who erved as King' liai on
with the Memphi anitation
workers and who wa an eye­
witne to' the a a ination,
will be working with the film.
Coretta colt Kin will not be
flIf(1nh"d ct. t
pre • act h d not b en
lated. The 11m will b gin
hooting n April 5th ...
Hollywood-dealin'
Rep rts are that Spike Lee
wh just igned with J M for
repr entation i pre enlly
devclopi ng .e ve r al new
proje . Am ng them is an
adopti n of a Toni Morri n
novel, " ula", centering on the
intense friend hip betwc n tw
women. Lee i al 0 reportedly
coking the right. to th late
Mile Dav is ' imon and
Schu ter aut biography,
"Mil s" ...
By the way
hoWe r, the organivation
of national movie theater
owners will honor Whoopi
Gold rg with" ernalc Star or
the Year" at their annual n­
vention lated f r Mar h 8-11
in Las Vegas ... The bidding i
on as Cheetah Re rd repor­
tedly made an of er in xces of
ix figure (as <n advance) in
return for di tributi n ri hts t
lcc-T" - upc ming al urn,
"Home Invasion". An a1 urn t
o raun hy that Warn rs ended
its lu rativ contract with I e- T
over it. Meanwhile an th r
r port ha LA-bel. d Priority
Record on the in. ide track.
Wesley Snipes
feuding with �senio?
- pe ".' ontributors 1.1'iU Col
lin. (IJ�Jlln41 I cen« ) utu] Radio-
, (np' lhe {Iii, lit
rc is d ubt th t a pi
Le J int (Ya Di ,Sho nutf etc.)
can't b r lea' u without i u u I
el m nt )1' contr v rsy. And a
Spike Joint h not b n lea d
that did n t g n rate a flow of cur­
rency in many direction proving
many people do want their 40 a r s
and a mule (or at least their hats ay
0). But ne manife tation of a
Spike J int that many don't realize
is the ucce s of the pike Lee
entourage,
The obviou ones ar�sy,
Denzel Washington and Wesley
Snipes. But what about tho e
cam . that we blinked throu h
(Hall Berry) r th actors that
wer so good that they became the
chara tcrs and we forgot wh they
actually were (Larry Fishburne).
SPIKE LEE
The Spike Lee Wh 's Who list
is long and h u d fame f r Murphy' ob essed flodged-Iover.
Camp ell now stars in the Fox hit
"Martin" a Martin Lawrence's
"girl", Gina.
LARRY FISHBURNE
rno t of th entoura c members.
See if you can Ioll w the be ore
and after. of entertainer that
pas cd through the Spike Joints.
-Hall Berry befor Spike
play d a model n ABC "Living
Doll" and We a regular in the'"
b auty pa nt circuit. For Spike,
B 'rry played Vivian the crt ck ad­
di t girlfriend f G tor in "Jungle
Fever". After her stint in the Spike
Joint, B. rry .tarrcd in " trictly
JASMINE·GUY
Busin s" with Tommy David on
and oppo: ite ddie Murphy 10 the
I 92 hit "Boom rang", and will b
( .atur 'ct til th ' . tarnn rol in the
UPC0n1111 T Al . Haley mini-. ene
"Que -n" on CB .
- i .ha mp II 'f r
pik' appeared in the w ekly NBC
sh w "Ra _ to Rich ". F r pike,
mphcll tarred a Jane Tous­
. amt, th victimized Gamma Ray
soronty queen m " hool D "
AU 'f th J mt, ampbell had a
me () 1 n "Boomerang" ha
c rio p Ito had
bl rot in t mov
"Ta/U" an "Th Cotton C/W)"
before becoming a regular face in
Spike Joints. For Spike, Esposito
played Big Brother Almighty, the
Gamma Phi Gamma frat leader in
"School Daze". He then went on
to play Buggin Out, the nationalis­
tic brother in "Do The Right
Thing", the ,miscongenis't Left
Hand Lacey in "Mo' Better Blues",
a bum in "Jungle Fever", and
Thomas Lacey, one of the assas­
sins in "Malcolm X". After Spike,
r, rather, other than Spike Joints,
Espo ito appeared in Tim
CYNOA WILLIAMS
Robbins's "Bob Rob rt "and will
appear in the, oon to be relea d
''Amo and Andrew" with Samuel
L. Jackson.
-Ja mine Guy danced with
the Atlanta Ballet and was an extra
on "Fame" before 'playing the
so ty sorority .ister; Dina, in
" chool Daze". Aft r the Joint,
Guy stars in the NBC sitcom ''A
Different World" ana will portray
Alex Haley' gre t-grandm ther
iry "Queen".
d m Hardi n was in
Aft rsch I Specials and
had a ucst role on "The 0 by
how" before the Spike Joint
I, chool Daz ", In which he played
one 0 th Fe lias. After "School
Daze", Hardi n plays opposite
Ja mine Guy a Dwayne W yne in
"A Differ nt World". He al had
rol in "Whit Men Can't Jump"
and the cult film "De! By Tempta­
tion" and will ( ppear in Mario Van
P .cblcs' "GUIl Men".
i hburn played
in Fran i Ford Coppola
"Apocalyp e Now" when h was
only 15. Almo t ten years lat r he
w on "Pee-wee' Playhouse"
Cowboy Curtis. For Spike, Fi h­
bum played D p, the campus ac­
tivist in "School Daze". Aft r
Daze, Fishburnes had a critically
acclaimed role in John Singlet n's
"Boyz N the Hood"; a brilliant
character character falling victim
to the corruption 0 th "good" side
of the government in "Deep
Cover"; won a Tony Award for his
r le in t Wilson's Broadway
play " Trains Running"; will
appear In x's new series "TriBe­
Ca" and wiI star as Ike Turner in
the summer movie "Tina".
-Samuel L. Jackson had a.
legitimate J1 ume that inc1ud d the
film industry before Spike. Al­
though Spike met him while still in
film school when Jackson was in
TISHA CAMPBELL
''A Soldier's Play" orr Broadway.
Jackson was in "Sea ofl.ove", "De!
by Temptation", "Raw", "Dead
Man Out", and the ABC series
"Hawk" before acquiring the role
of the Senor Love Daddy in "Do
th� Right Thing" .. For Spike, he
went on to play the gambling shark
4. flunkie in "Mo' Better Blues", and
the crack addict Gator in "Jungle
Fever". After Spike, Jackson had
roles in ''Juice'', ..!!__Good/el/as",
"Patriot Games" and will soon be
in the upcoming "Amos and
Andrew"; is in the current release
"Loaded Weapon"; and will be in
Steven Spielberg's ''Jurassic
Park".
-Martin Lawr nee did
stand up com dy befor Spike.
For Spike, h played ne of the
comedic instigating teenagers in
"Do the Right Thin ". After the
Spike Joint, Lawrence appeared in
both "Hou e Party" movie, had a
role in "Boomerang", is curr ntly
ho ting Russel Simmons' "De!
Comedy Jam" and stars in the Fox
hit "Martin".
-BiD unn did local theater
before joining pike'
for "School Daze"
Fellas. AI 0 or pike, Nunn
portrayed ba ist Bottom Hamil­
ton in "Mo' Better 'Blues" and
Radio Rahcern in "Do the Right
Thing". After pike unn had a
role in "D fby Temptation" well
"Regarding If, nry" and "N w
Jack City".
rez worked in a
law firm and de n ed on' " oul
Train". F r pike, Perez played
Tina, Mookie's tripping irlfriend
in "Do the Ri Itt Thin fl. After the
Spike J int, Per Z ontinue t
DENZEL WASHINGTON
choreograph the Fly Girl routines
for "In Living Color", played
Woody Harrelson's Jeopardy­
playing girlfriend in "White Can't
.T ump"; and will star in the upcom­
in "Utltt.llned Heart",
-w I y played
rival gang leader in Michael
Jackson's "Bad" short film/video
and a small role in "Major
League". For Lee, Snipes played
the restless, crowd-pleasing jazz
saxophonist Shadow Henderson in
"Mo' Better Blues" and the mar­
ried architect that has an affair with
his Italian-American temp in
''Jungle 'Fever". After the Spike
Joints, Snipes starred in "New Jack
City", "White Men Can't Jump"
and "Pas enger 57" and will star in
the forth oming "Rising Sun" and
MARTIN LAWRENCE
, I
"Demolition Man". �
-Denzel W hington wa
regular on "St. Elsewhere", pI yed
in "Heart Condition", did the
Bro dway play "Checkmates"
and "A Soldier Story" twhich h
did the film version well), and
small rol in "Power" with Richard
Ger b fore meeting up wi th
Spike. For Spike, Washington
played jazz trumpeter Bleek Gil­
liam, a man who could only hear
his own music, in "Mo' Better
Blues" and also played nationalist
leader Malcolm' X in Lee's "Mal­
colm X". After, or, ra r, in be­
tween Spike Join , Washington
starred in "Ricochet" and "Missis­
sippi Masala".
-Cynda Williams was in
regional th ter before playing the
glamorous singer Clarke Ben­
tacourte in "Mo' Better Blues".
After the Spike Joint, Williams
won rave reviews the enigmatic
WESLEY SNIPES
bad girl in "One False Move".
Besides aiding in the launching
of many careers, Spike has also
used many old faces in his Joints,
successfully introducing them to
the younger generation. Ruby Dee
and Ossie Davis have appeared in
two Spike Joints, "Do the Right
Thing" and "Jungle Fever".
JbeY Lincoln and Dick Anthony
ams both appeared as Bleek
am s parents in "Mo' Better ..
Blues". So, it's not good actors
that Spike's Joint cranks out. The
actors Spik u s are already good,
Spike's Joint just tells the world
what they don't already know,
Black actors can do more than ac­
tion fllrru and play prostitutes and
drug dealers. Ya Dig? Sho nuff.
Lauren David Peden of the New
York Times contributed to this
story.