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.
The cast for Tyler Perry’s new Netflix film A Jazzman’s Blues has come together with the announcement of addition actors. The cast includes previously announced leads Joshua Boone and Solea Pfeiffer. New cast members include Amirah Vann, Austin Scott, Milauna Jackson, Kario Marcel, Lana Young, Brent Antonello, Brad Benedict, and Ryan Eggold. A Jazzman’s Blues is written and directed by Perry. The film follows forty years of secrets and lies in a tale of forbidden love and family drama in the deep South. Perry has said that this project is especially special to him as this was the first screenplay Perry wrote 26 years ago. Perry commented on the film saying: “I have waited a quarter of a century to tell this story and now is the perfect time and Netflix is the perfect partner.” A Jazzman’s Blues began shooting this week in Savannah, Georgia and at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. It’s currently set for a 2022 release on Netflix.
I am so glad the live musicals on NBC are back! They've made some really great ones and I always enjoy watching them with my family. This time around we get to see one of my musical favorites, Annie! The 7-time Tony Award-winning musical is coming to NBC as a LIVE event featuring an all-star cast this Thursday at 8/7c on NBC. Annie Live! stars little Celina Smith as Annie, Taraji P. Henson as Miss Hannigan, Tituss Burgess as Rooster Hannigan, Harry Connick, Jr. as Daddy Warbucks, Nicole Scherzinger as Grace Farrell, and Megan Hilty as Lily St. Regis.
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
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