Karen Pittman (The Morning Show) and The Wire alum Wood Harris are set as leads opposite Michael Cooper Jr. and Lovie Simone in Forever, Netflix’s upcoming drama series from Girlfriends and Being Mary Jane creator Mara Brock Akil.
A reimagining of Judy Blume’s influential — and controversial — 1975 novel Forever… for a new generation, the series adaptation tells the epic love story of two Black teens, Keisha Clark (Simone) and Justin Edwards (Cooper Jr.) exploring romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts, set in Los Angeles, 2018.
Pittman plays Dawn, a college-educated, top executive in corporate finance with an easy elegance that belies her loving but paranoid form of parenting, Justin’s (Cooper Jr.) mother Dawn might be strict at times, but it’s always out of love. She’s worked hard to give him the things he needs to succeed in life and...
A reimagining of Judy Blume’s influential — and controversial — 1975 novel Forever… for a new generation, the series adaptation tells the epic love story of two Black teens, Keisha Clark (Simone) and Justin Edwards (Cooper Jr.) exploring romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts, set in Los Angeles, 2018.
Pittman plays Dawn, a college-educated, top executive in corporate finance with an easy elegance that belies her loving but paranoid form of parenting, Justin’s (Cooper Jr.) mother Dawn might be strict at times, but it’s always out of love. She’s worked hard to give him the things he needs to succeed in life and...
- 3/7/2024
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
"Breaking Bad" had Walter White. "Mad Men" had Don Draper. "The Sopranos" had Tony. But when it came to HBO drama series "The Wire," the main player wasn't a man but a city in decline, another casualty of America's war on drugs. Each of its five seasons could be read as chapters in a grand novel, building up the macro by way of the micro. One season would focus on the empire of drug kingpin Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris), while the next season panned over to the Baltimore docks and its stevedores, custodians of illicit supply routes. New characters would surface mid-season, while entrenched...
The post Playing A Character On The Wire Was A Study In Paranoia appeared first on /Film.
The post Playing A Character On The Wire Was A Study In Paranoia appeared first on /Film.
- 7/1/2022
- by Anya Stanley
- Slash Film
Sondra Locke, the Oscar-nominated actress who made six movies with Clint Eastwood before their relationship disintegrated and she sued him for palimony and then fraud, has died. She was 74.
Locke died Nov. 3 at her home in Los Angeles of cardiac arrest stemming from breast and bone cancer, according to her death certificate, which was obtained by the Associated Press.
The blond, waifish actress made her onscreen debut in stunning fashion, earning her Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the teenager Mick Kelly opposite Alan Arkin in Robert Ellis Miller's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968),...
Locke died Nov. 3 at her home in Los Angeles of cardiac arrest stemming from breast and bone cancer, according to her death certificate, which was obtained by the Associated Press.
The blond, waifish actress made her onscreen debut in stunning fashion, earning her Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the teenager Mick Kelly opposite Alan Arkin in Robert Ellis Miller's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968),...
- 12/13/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sondra Locke, the Oscar-nominated actress who made six movies with Clint Eastwood before their relationship disintegrated and she sued him for palimony and then fraud, has died. She was 74.
Locke died Nov. 3 at her home in Los Angeles of cardiac arrest stemming from breast and bone cancer, according to her death certificate, which was obtained by the Associated Press.
The blond, waifish actress made her onscreen debut in stunning fashion, earning her Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the teenager Mick Kelly opposite Alan Arkin in Robert Ellis Miller's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968),...
Locke died Nov. 3 at her home in Los Angeles of cardiac arrest stemming from breast and bone cancer, according to her death certificate, which was obtained by the Associated Press.
The blond, waifish actress made her onscreen debut in stunning fashion, earning her Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the teenager Mick Kelly opposite Alan Arkin in Robert Ellis Miller's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968),...
- 12/13/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
As a title for this week's episode of The Deuce, "Show and Prove" is a tough one to beat. Within its dirty world of 1971 Times Square, the phrase refers to the NYPD's demand for sex workers to produce paperwork proving they've already been arrested within the past 48 hours. This allows them a reprieve from the current night's "ho patrol" bust – a crime-stopping tactic so familiar that the police and prostitutes all order Chinese takeout and eat it in the precinct house's courtyard together.
But it's also an apt description of...
But it's also an apt description of...
- 9/18/2017
- Rollingstone.com
Former Baltimore gangster Nathan Barksdale, who inspired several characters on The Wire including drug kingpin Avon Barksdale, died in federal medical prison in North Carolina, The Baltimore Sun reports. He was 54.
Spokespeople for Baltimore's Health Department, as well as an official at the medical prison in Butner, N.C. confirmed Barksdale's death, but no cause of death was given.
The real Barksdale, who went by the nickname "Bodie" — the name of a low-level dealer in the fake Barksdale's organization — rose to power in the Eighties, dealing heroin out of the Murphy Homes in West Baltimore.
Spokespeople for Baltimore's Health Department, as well as an official at the medical prison in Butner, N.C. confirmed Barksdale's death, but no cause of death was given.
The real Barksdale, who went by the nickname "Bodie" — the name of a low-level dealer in the fake Barksdale's organization — rose to power in the Eighties, dealing heroin out of the Murphy Homes in West Baltimore.
- 2/16/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Melvin Williams, a former Baltimore drug kingpin who served in part as the inspiration for The Wire's Avon Barksdale, has died at 73, the Baltimore Sun reports. The Wire's co-creator David Simon reported on Williams during his time at the Sun and also gave Williams a small part on the critically acclaimed series.Known as "Little Melvin" during his days in the drug trade in the 60s and 70s, Williams served several years in federal prison before launching on a path of redemption that led him to speak out against drug use and gang culture. During his time as a dealer, he ran a trade that grossed nearly $1 million a day and was organized in manner similar to that of Avon Barksdale's in the first season of The Wire. In 1987, Simon wrote a five-part series on the man (which the Sun has shared on its website) whom Simon...
- 12/4/2015
- Vulture
Melvin Williams, a former drug kingpin who helped inspire The Wire, died Thursday in Baltimore, the The Baltimore Sun reports. He was 73.
Nicknamed "Little Melvin," Williams once was a powerful force in the Baltimore drug trade in the 1970s and 1980s before he served years in a federal prison and turned away from crime. His life inspired The Wire creator David Simon, who penned a five-part Baltimore Sun profile of the former drug trafficker in 1987. He is thought to have inspired the character Avon Barksdale, played by Wood Harris on the show.
Williams was released from prison in 1996, and had...
Nicknamed "Little Melvin," Williams once was a powerful force in the Baltimore drug trade in the 1970s and 1980s before he served years in a federal prison and turned away from crime. His life inspired The Wire creator David Simon, who penned a five-part Baltimore Sun profile of the former drug trafficker in 1987. He is thought to have inspired the character Avon Barksdale, played by Wood Harris on the show.
Williams was released from prison in 1996, and had...
- 12/4/2015
- by Aaron Couch, @AaronCouch
- People.com - TV Watch
Melvin Williams, the inspiration for HBO’s “The Wire,” died on Thursday. He was 73. Nicknamed, “Little Melvin,” Williams’ past as a drug kingpin in the ’60s is said to have been the inspiration for Wood Harris’ character Avon Barksdale on the critically acclaimed drama. Williams eventually left the drug trade and went on to work with local pastors. He also had a recurring role on the series as Deacon, a pastor giving aid to West Baltimore youth. Also read: 'The Wire' Creator Condemns 'Selfishness' of Baltimore Rioters: 'The Violence Needs to Cease' Series creator David Simon tweeted his respects to Williams on Thursday.
- 12/3/2015
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
Melvin Williams -- the Baltimore drug dealer whose life inspired the classic television show "The Wire" -- died Thursday in Maryland. He was 73. Williams was a powerful drug dealer in the '70s and '80s and served several years behind bars for trafficking. He was profiled for the Baltimore Sun in 1987 by David Simon, who went on to create "The Wire." Williams -- who had a small role on the show as Deacon --...
- 12/3/2015
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Melvin Williams, the former West Baltimore drug kingpin who helped inspire both the character of Avon Barksdale on "The Wire" and the creative partnership that led to the series, and who later had a recurring role on the show, died this morning at 73, according to the Baltimore Sun. "Wire" co-creators David Simon (a Sun reporter at the time) and Ed Burns (then a Baltimore homicide detective) first met in the aftermath of a sprawling joint DEA taskforce investigation into Williams' organization that Burns had worked. Simon was inspired by the case to make it and Williams the subjects of his first big Sunday profile. While Simon reported the story (here's a Pdf of the whole thing), he and Burns hit it off well enough that Burns would become a frequent source for Simon, and later his collaborator on the classic HBO drama. Williams served many years in federal prison, and...
- 12/3/2015
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
Wood Harris, Tristan Wilds and Afton Williamson, David Call and Antoine Harris have joined the cast of VH1 original movie “The Breaks,” the network announced Monday. Based on the book “The Big Payback” by former Source magazine writer and record label executive Dan Charnas, the movie chronicles a pivotal era in hip-hop music through three friends looking to make it in the industry. Set in 1990 New York, the story reveals the triumphs and pitfalls associated with the rap business. Harris, who is best known for his role as Avon Barksdale in HBO’s “The Wire,” plays Barry Fouray, founder of...
- 6/1/2015
- by Jordan Burchette
- The Wrap
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