The purpose of this blog is to highlight the presence of the people of the African Diaspora in period costume dramas. It is also to provide a historical context to the films featured.
Today, we have unfortunately learned that celebrity hairstylist Charles Gregory Ross has passed away of Coronavirus. Hollywood heavy hitters like Tyler Perry, Viola Davis, Ava DuVernay and Lee Daniels wrote heartfelt messages to their friend and colleague.
Charles Gregory Ross showed his amazing artistry on numerous films. So often the people behind the screen don't get the praise they deserve. They work that Ross did was crucial to the viewing experience. This is especially true for period films which Ross worked on often. I included trailers for the films and series that I could find so that you could see his art in motion.
A Timeline of Ross' Period Film Work
Miss Evers' Boys (1997)
Laurence Fishburne as Caleb Humphries and Alfre Woodard as Eunice Evers, R.N.
Mama Flora's Family (1998)
Passing Glory (1999)
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years (1999)
Mykelti Williamson and Lonette McKee as Papa Delany and Mama Delany
Remember the Titans (2000)
Denzel Washington and Nicole Ari Parker as Coach Herman Boone and Carol Boone
Boycott (2001)
Jeffrey Wright and Carmen Ejogo as Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King
Lackawanna Blues (2005)
S. Epatha Merkerson as Rachel 'Nanny' Crosby and Marcus Carl Franklin as Ruben Santiago Jr.
Idlewild (2006)
Paula Patton as Angel Davenport
Pride (2007)
Black Dynamite (2009)
Michael Jai White and Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Black Dynamite and Gloria
The Trip to Bountiful (2014)
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Charles Gregory Ross.
In more Zendaya film news! Deadline recently mentioned in an article that Zendaya has signed on to play Ellen Craft in the adaptation of the book, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom: Or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery. As of 2016 the project was in development at Alloy Entertainment and Alloy Features, with Suzanne Allain attached to script. The History : In 1848, William and Ellen Craft made an amazingly clever escape from slavery in Macon, Georgia. Ellen, the daughter of a biracial slave and her master used her light skin and features to disguise herself as a white male planter. With her husband William posing as her servant the Crafts traveled to freedom in plain sight. This will be the third period production that Zendaya will be taking part of. She was first in the 2017 musical, The Greatest Showman . In the musical the actress played one of P. T. Barnum's circus acts; a trapeze artist. News also broke of her casting as Anita Hemmings
Water White is based on the 2011 children’s book which was co-authored by Michael Bandy and Eric Stein. The film is based on a childhood experience of author Bandy and tells the story of a boy in 1963 Alabama who is obsessed with drinking water from the “Whites Only” fountain. I was drawn to this movie premise because my grandfather told me about his experience as a child in 1950’s Georgia wanting to drink from the white fountain. Like Michael, my grandfather found that the water wasn’t all he thought it would be. The narrative style and tone of the film fit perfectly as it is from the point of view of a 7 year old little boy. Watching the shenanigans that Michael and his older cousin Red get into was hilarious. Amir and Amari O'Neil were perfectly cast as Michael. Although twins they played the character in the same way. I was not even aware that Michael was being played by twins until I looked up the trailer to write this review. I was also impressed by the actin
As a child I regularly watched syndicated television shows in historical settings like Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman with my mother. I remembered that some of the episodes featured black characters and dealt with race. I thought it'd be fun to rewatch these episodes and give my thoughts here. The first episode I dug up was the season 5 episode 30 of Bonanza, titled "Enter Thomas Bowers" which aired April 26, 1964. The episode starts with three women discussing a benefit concert for the local Native American tribe. One of the women proudly states that she has gotten the internationally famous singer Thomas Bowers to perform and that he is coming in on the next stagecoach. Only when Thomas Bowers (William Marshall) arrives, he's not exactly who she thought he'd be. Once she realizes that the singer is a black man the entire atmosphere changes. I have to stop here is point out the irony of them not wanting a blac
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