Today I ventured to the Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con with three goals in mind. To meet Pam Grier, Richard Roundtree and Billy Dee Williams. As my business partner and I made our trek, we talked about our continued love of the 1970′s, the films, the animation from the Saturday morning cartoons and the comics. We even discussed how this could be a small turning point in our lives as we continue to follow our passion by meeting these 1970′s film icons.
Once we arrived at the Philadelphia Convention Center I saw Pam Grier with her manager crossing the street heading toward the center. I shouted out “THERE’S PAM GRIER” and startled my business partner. I acted like I was a crazed fan screaming “WHERE’S THE CAMERA”…it was one of my funnier moments. I was reminded that I came here to take a picture with her and may have a chance to talk to her.
We parked the car and walked to the Convention Center, turned the corner and BAM, people with and without tickets were stacked up in the same line, all the way around the block waiting to get in. The process for entry was a nightmare…a 35 minute wait once I was in the Convention Center, and this was with tickets that I pre-ordered and paid for over the internet. When we finally arrived for the picture Pam Grier was gone. Well as anyone who PAID to have their picture taken at these events in hopes of having a 1 to 2 minute conversation would have been…I was ticked off. But I kept my cool and demanded my photo, since the Convention Center was ridiculously slow in processing my intake, which prevented me from seeing Pam on time.
Finally after much complaining a photographer escorted me to Pam’s booth and I was introduced to her. She was ever so gracious and kind. She shook my hand and for what felt like an eternity we stood arm in arm and I had my photo taken. I took a minute to gain my composure and I walked over to her booth and had a chance to talk to her about The Museum of UnCut Funk (MOUF), it’s mission and how we would love to do an interview with her. She expressed an interest and gave us a timeframe that would be good. I thanked her again and proceeded to pick up my Pam Grier and Billy Dee Williams photos.
There was as lag in time to pick up photos so we visited Richard Roundtree at his booth. He too was kind and gracious. I told him about the MOUF and our collection, especially items related to him and his body of work. Like Pam Grier he expressed interest in being interviewed. My photo of Richard will be mailed to me due to a back log in processing photos.
Billy Dee Williams was more reserved and since I had taken a photo with him earlier I introduced myself and shared with him our mission at The Museum of UnCut Funk. He too took my card and like the others seemed interested in an interview.
I can’t tell you if or when these interviews will come to fruition. We will certainly do our best to make them happen. But what I will tell you is that yesterday was one of the best days I have had while pursuing my passion.
Sista ToFunky
The 1970s produced the film genre that would become known as ‘Blaxploitation’. These films were made specifically with an urban Black audience in mind. These movies were larger-than-life, action-packed and full of funk and soul music. These films also incorporated progressive social and political commentary. From Pam Grier to Bill Cosby, check out who delved into this genre and what the actors have been doing since the 1970s.
Pam Grier’s fame grew in the 1970s when she starred in several Blaxploitation films like ‘Coffy’ and ‘Foxy Brown’. Grier revitalized her career and paid homage to the ’70s genre in 1997 when she appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Jackie Brown.’ Her role as Jackie Brown earned her a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress.
Grier played Louis Williams in ‘Mars Attacks!’ in 1996 and Carol in ‘Holy Smoke’ in 1999. Grier’s acting resume is extensive and lately she’s hit the television screen. She played Kit Porter on ‘The L Word’ for 5 years and appeared in ‘Smallville’ in 2010.
Richard Roundtree is known as a leading man in many Blaxploitation movies. His private detective role as John Shaft, in the movie ‘Shaft’ in 1971) earned him notoriety and sequels in ‘Shaft’s Big Score’ and ‘Shaft in Africa’. He even starred in a television series dedicated to the character.
Roundtree played John Shaft’s uncle in the film interpration of ‘Shaft’ in 2000 and more recently and the character Mr. Shaw on ‘Desperate Housewives’ in 2005. In 2011 he popped up on an episode of ‘The Mentalist,’ though he’s better known for roles in the movies ‘Se7en’ and ‘George of the Jungle.’
Football legend, Jim Brown, is not only known for being one of the greatest players in the NFL, but he was also an integral part of the Blaxploitation genre. Pictured here, Brown played Gunn in ‘Black Gunn’ (1972). The star of the movie, Brown plays an LA nightclub owner who’s after the mob.
Brown is known for his role as Robert Jefferson in ‘The Dirty Dozen’ (1967). After the ’70s, he appeared in numerous films like ‘Mars Attacks!’ alongside Pam Grier and ‘Any Given Sunday.’ But he wasn’t the only NFL star to hit the big screen during this decade.
Fred ‘The Hammer’ Williamson starred in ‘Black Caesar’ in 1973, paying homage to previous gangster movies. The former defensive back also hit the big screen in the ’70s with ‘Black Eye’ and ‘MASH.’ In 1973, Williamson posed nude for ‘Playgirl’ magazine.
Since his Blaxploitation days, Williamson has continued his acting career. He starred as Nick in ‘Vigilante’ in ’83 and was in ‘From Dust Til Dawn’ in 1996. A well balanced actor, Williamson’s appeared in films like ‘Starsky & Hutch’ and ‘Pushing Daisies.’ He’s also done work on the other side of the camera. He produced and directed ‘Mean Johnny Barrows’ and has gone on to produce over a dozen more films.
Judy Pace starred as Iris in ‘Cotton Comes to Harlem’ (1970). A prominent actress during the decade, Pace has come to be known as one of the most beautiful women to ever appear on screen.
After being dubbed the personification of Black Beauty in the ’70s, Pace’s career continued to thrive. She’s been in dozen’s of TV series from ‘Kung Fu’ to ‘Sanford and Son’ to ‘Bewitched.’
Nichelle Nichols popped up during the ’70s in ‘Truck Turner.’ Her career began before this decade, when she played Lt. Uhura on ‘Star Trek.’ She became one of the first black women to be featured in a strong role on a TV series. Her inter-racial kiss with William Shatner’s Captain Kirk character earned her even more notoriety.
Since her role- alongside Isaac Hayes in ‘Truck Turner,’ Nichols has continued to act. Recently she was on the series, ‘Heroes’ in the role of Nana Dawson. She’s also been in numerous ‘Star Trek’ spin-offs. Nichols has volunteered time and worked for NASA.
Billy Dee Williams starred in two Blaxploitation films, ‘The Take’ and ‘Hit!’ in the early ’70s. But, he’s most widely known for his role of Lando Calrissian in numerous ‘Star Wars’ installments. In the intense film, ‘Hit!,’ Williams plays a federal agent, out to destroy a drug ring. He is also known for his great work in Lady Sings the Blues and Mohgany starring Diana Ross.
Williams played Brady Lloyd in the 80′s series ‘Dynasty’, and has had recurring roles on ‘General Hospital’ and ‘Dairy of a Single Mom.’ He also recently made an appearance on ‘White Collar’.
Trina Parks popped up in the ’70s as an actress with a few roles. Most notably, she played Syreena in ‘Darktown Strutters’ and Thumper in ‘Diamonds are Forever.’
Parks hasn’t acted since the ’70s, but her claim to fame remains the fact that she was the first Black woman to be a Bond Girl. In 2002, she was part of the ‘Bond Girls Are Forever’ TV documentary.
Jim Kelly appeared in a handful of Blaxploitation films in the ’70s. They include ‘Black Belt Jones’ (top l.) and ‘Enter the Dragon’ (bottom l.). In ‘Black Belt,’ Kelly used his martial arts skills to play a Kung Fu expert who kicks apart the Mafia. He became a top martial arts film star of the early ’70s with his distinguishable, funky Afro hairstyle.
In ‘Enter the Dragon,’ Kelly appeared alongside Bruce Lee. But his roles since the Blaxploitation days have been limited. Kelly had a small role in the series, ‘Highway to Heaven’ and he popped up in ‘Ultimatum’ in 1994.
Antonio Fargas was a big name back in the Blaxploitation days. He had roles in ‘Cleopatra Jones’ and ‘Foxy Brown.’ Fargas became best known for his role as Huggy Bear in the ‘Starsky and Hutch’ series. He also appeared in two Wayans brothers parodies, ‘I’m Gonna Git You Sucka’ (1988) and ‘Don’t Be a Menance’ (1996). Lately he’s appeared in a recurring role, Doc, on ‘Everybody Hates Chris’ and he’s had one-off roles on series like ‘Brothers’ and ‘Numb3rs.’
Melvin ‘Block’ Van Peebles is a well known director from the ’70s, his most popular film being ‘Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.’ This movie helped create the Blaxploitation genre.
Melvin Van Peebles is also an actor and has appeared as Elmo in ‘Black, White and Blues’ and on ‘All My Children’ as Melvin Woods. His son is actor Mario Van Peebles, started his acting career in ‘Sweet Sweetback’s.’
The younger Van Peebles appeared in ’The Cotton Club’ during the 1980′s. He is better known as Malcolm X from ‘Ali’ and Samuel Woods on ‘All My Children.’ In 2003, the father and son teamed up again to produce and star in ‘Baadasssss!’.
Source: Roseanne Salvatore and Partrick Montero at www.nydailynews.com
“She’s the Godmother of them all…The Baddest One-Chick Hit Squad that ever hit town!” So promised the 1973 promotional poster for the American International Pictures release of Coffy; whose star was a luscious afro-sporting, gun toting, buxom Nubian princess named Pam Grier.
The definitive sex symbol of the 1970′s, Pam single-handedly changed the image of females in film; from helpless victim to that of independent tough heroine. She was Wonder Woman without the red,white and blue tights. She was a female warrioress, who didn’t need to butch it up, when it was time to get mean (a la the shaved head Demi Moore in G.I. Jane), or take enough steroids to outflex Arnold (ya hear me Terminator’s Linda Hamilton). Pam was a bad ass avenging angel, who always exuded femininity, confidence and sexuality.
Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Pam was the daughter of U.S. Air Force mechanic Clarence Grier and his nurse wife Gwendolyn. As a child, Pam lived the typical nomadic existence of a military brat. The family finally settled down in Denver, Colorado, where Pam graduated from high school. She later attended college as a pre-med student. Not a rich girl, Pam entered several local beauty contests to earn extra money for tuition. It was during one of the pageants, that she was spotted by a Hollywood film agent who felt she had the natural beauty to make it as an actress. Reluctant initially, Pam eventually gave in to the lure of potential stardom and moved to Los Angeles, California. Working as a switchboard operator to pay the bills, Pam enrolled at UCLA, where she began studying acting.
In 1970, Pam made her screen debut in the Russ Meyer bizarre cult classic, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. That film would however, lead to bigger roles in a series of exploitive B-Movies such as The Big Doll House, Women in Cages (both released in 1971), Hit Man(1972) and The Twilight People (1973). The films were pure camp, with plenty of naked bodies on display, Pam’s delicious curves being one of them. After three years in Hollywood, Pam Grier was nowhere near a marquee name, however she was beginning to make waves. While the movies she was featured in were Z-grade at best, her performances in these films made them at least watchable. It would be her next film, Coffy, which would carry her from wannabe to the Queen of American International Pictures (AIP).
Big Doll House, Women in Chains, Hitman and Twilight People Movie Posters are a part of The Museum of UnCut Funk collection
Coffy was a jagged-edged, low-budget film about a nurse, who after witnessing her sister becomes strung out on drugs, metamorphoses into a single-minded vigilante bent on waging a one-woman war against the city’s drug lords. Coffy is not afraid to use any and all means necessary, including her voluptuous body, to extract her bloody vengeance on the mobsters, crooked cops and dirty politicians behind the endless flow of narcotics on the streets. Many Hollywood film critics quickly wrote Coffy off as cheap, exploitative B-movie fare. However, what they failed to factor into the equation was the effect this unexpected keg of dynamite named Pam Grier would have on her audiences. Despite the paper thin plot, Pam danced through the role of Coffy with such conviction and fire, that you find it impossible to not only enjoy her performance, but believe it as well. In the hands of a lesser actress, the film’s shallowness would have been exploited in droves. However, Pam had the grittiness, sex appeal and toughness of mind to ensure that in a forgettable film, she was definitely not a forgettable actress.
“Coffy” is from The Museum of UnCut Funk collection
Pam continued down her path to stardom, recreating her Super Soul Sister role several times in films such as Foxy Brown and The Arena which were both released in 1974, followed by Sheba Baby, Bucktown and Friday Foster the following year. Unfortunately, the quality of the films continued to be taken from the so-called blaxploitation fountain that flowed freely out of Hollywood. Still, it was hard to deny her obvious feminine charms and appeal. New York Magazine went so far as to dub her “Sex Goddess of the Seventies!” While Pam continued to build up a strong (predominately male) audience; her radical film image had not yet attracted a female following. In fact, Pam became the object of criticism from some feminists, as well as from the Black community. Women in the seventies, particularly Black women, had a hard time accepting and identifying with Pam’s gun toting, blouse dropping, sharp tongue super-heroines. The Black media also found it difficult to anoint the brazen Ms. Grier as the successor to Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge. Instead of viewing her as a maverick, a glamour queen of the times, Blacks turned their back on Pam box office success, viewing her not as a trendsetter and pioneer, but as a cinematic freak show performer.
Foxy Brown, The Arena, Sheba Baby, Bucktown and Friday Foster Movie Posters are a part of The Museum of UnCut Funk collection
Pam’s image problems stemmed from the fact that she was walking on untested ground for Black women (and in many ways, women in general). In the history of American film, there had never been a Black woman portrayed with so much raw sexuality and fiery independence. Pam’s characters had male lovers, but they were never defined by them, nor controlled by them. Pam’s Coffy and Foxy Brown characters did not stay behind while their men (Jim Brown or Fred Williamson) stomped on the bad guys, nor were they the kind who would be just whisked up in a man’s arms and taken to bed. Pam’s Friday Foster and Sheba Baby characters were just as adept at butt kicking as any macho man on screen. And as far as the bedroom was concerned, she always had the final sayso on who entered it and when. Interestingly, among Pam’s few female admirers at the time, was Gloria Steinem, publisher of the ultra-feminist Ms. Magazine, who saw Pam for what she was, a strong independent woman; going so far as to label her “Super Sass!”
As the decade closed, American International Pictures, the house that Pam built, dropped her like a bad habit. Formerly one of the busiest actresses in Hollywood, Pam’s career became tepid at best. Her career would get a critical boost in the 1980’s for her mesmerizing performance as a psychotic hooker in 1981’s Fort Apache The Bronx. Unfortunately, roles such as that were few and far between for Pam. By the nineties, her career had practically come to a halt; it would take a maverick director, with a fetish for 70’s cult movies to bring the black queen of action films back to relevance. Quentin Tarantino had set Hollywood on fire with two violent, twisted, yet masterfully intriguing films; Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). Combining the stylish film noir of the 1940’s and 50’s with the uninhibited, gore of 60’s-70’s grindhouse, Tarantino had injected Hollywood with much needed creativity and originality. His next masterpiece would be the resurrection of the blaxploitation film, and to do this, Tarantino knew he needed an actress bigger than life. He needed Pam Grier.
Jackie Brown was tailor made for the comeback of the former Queen of AIP. Playing a struggling airline stewardess who gets caught in the violent world of drug trafficking, Pam’s Jackie is a survivor, able to give as good as she gets. The film wasn’t the critical success of Tarantino’s other films, but it did bring in a hefty $70 million worldwide. Pam Grier was back, and roles, worthy of this fiery, independent actress soon begin to flow in. Pam would go on to star in the films Jawbreaker (1999) and Snow Day (2000), and even got her own short-lived television show, Linc’s in 1998. In 2004, she became a cast member on the highly successful Showtime series The L Word.
For Pam Grier, the more than thirty year struggle to find that elusive glass slipper seems over. Today, her old films are enjoying a huge cult following among men, as well as attracting a new generation of female viewers who can now identify and appreciate her strong, independent characters. While recognition as a powerful actress, role model, sex symbol and pioneer was more often then not, a frustrating journey; Pam, like the super-hero she always portrayed, eventually won in the end.
Contributor: Keith Brooks
Thalmus Rasulala was born Jack Chowder on November 15th, 1939. One of the many Black actors from the 1970’s and beyond who never got his rightful due, Thalmus will always be at the top of my list of great performers. He amassed a wealth of television, film, directing and other credits, including winning a Theatre World Award for his role in the Broadway production of “Hello Dolly” with Pearl Bailey and an all Black cast.
Thalmus was a man among men, known for his roles from the height of the 1970’s Blaxploitation explosion. In 1972, he portrayed Dr. Gordon Thomas in Blacula, a widely successful film that mixed horror and gore with the excitement of blaxploitation.
In 1972, he also played Sidney Lord James, the lead character in Cool Breeze, a remake of The Asphalt Jungle with an all Black cast. In this film, James is an ex-convict who plans to steal $3 million worth of jewels, sell them, and use the money to start a bank to back Black businesses. He is assisted by two pals, his half-brother and a preacher who also works as a thief. The operation is ultimately backed by a man who cheats on his wheelchair-bound wife with a sexy woman.
In 1973, Thalmus starred in one of the best classic pimp movies ever, Willie Dynamite. In this movie Thalmus played Robert Daniels, the D.A.
The Slams is a violent prison drama from 1973, in which an imprisoned criminal finds himself flooded with offers to spring him if he reveals the secret location of the $1.5 million he stole from the mob before he went to jail. Thalmus is credited as the Assistant Director on this flick.
In 1975, Thalmus played the role of Charlie the grocery store owner in Cornbread, Earl and Me. Cornbread, a Black kid who strives to escape his ghetto surroundings. He does so by becoming a high school basketball star–and the idol of the other youngsters in his community. On the verge of starting college on a scholarship, Cornbread is mistakenly killed by a police officer.
In 1975, Thalmus also starred opposite Pam Grier in Friday Foster. Thalmus plays Blake Tarr, the richest Black man in America. Grier plays Friday Foster, a freelance photographer with an insatiable thirst for adventure. In her assignment to photograph Tarr, Friday unearths a conspiracy to assassinate him.
In 1975, Thalmus starred again with Pam Grier and Fred Williamson in Bucktown. This film is about a man named Duke Johnson, played by Williamson, who moves to a small and racially divided southern town where his nightclub owning brother was murdered after he refused to pay crooked white cops for “protection.” When he is threatened himself, he calls in some of his buddies, one of whom is played by Thalmus named Roy, to help him. When the friends decide to take over the town, Johnson becomes a one-man army on a mission to oust the baddies.
In 1975, Thalmus starred with Dean Martin in Mr. Ricco. In this obscure drama, Martin, a San Francisco lawyer defends Black militant Frankie Steele, played by Thamlus, who is on trial for murdering a cop.
He was also a special guest on the 1975 episode of ‘Saturday Night Live’ hosted by Richard Pryor. They did a great ‘Exorcist’ parody with Thalmus as Father Merrin and Pryor as Father Karras. The priests dished out some intense discipline to Regan (played by Laraine Newman) when she started bad mouthing their mammas.
In 1976, Thalmus’ went on to land a role in Alex Haley’s Roots as Kunta Kinte’s father Omro. In 1977, he played Dr. Alvarez in Killer On Board with Patty Duke, George Hamilton and Jane Seymour.
Other notable film and television credits include:
1974 – The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman – Ned
1976 – 1977 – Played Bill Thomas (Mabel King’s ex) on several episodes of ‘What’s Happening?
1976 – Adios Amigo – Noah
1978 – The President’s Mistress – Lt. Gordon
1979 – The Bermuda Triangle – Coast Guard Officer
1981 – The Sophisticated Gents – Snake
1884 – The Jerk Too – Crossroads
1986 – The Defiant Ones - Fred
1986 – The Boss’ Wife – Barney
1988 – Steven Segal’s Above the Law – Deputy Supt. Crowder
1989 – The Preppie Murder
1989 – Trekkies probably recognize him as Capt. Donald Varley on the ‘Contagion’ episode of ‘The Next Generation.
1990 – Lambada – Wesley Wilson
1991 – He was the police commissioner in New Jack City, and played Jack Chowder
His final film role was in 1992 as General Afir in Mom and Dad Save the World, which was released posthumously
Thalmus Rashlala died of a massive heart attack in Albuquerque NM on October 9th 1991. He was only 52. He was survived by his wife Sherilyn and four children.
Source: Wikipedia, IMDB, Answers.com and Racks and Razors

The Museum of UnCut Funk salutes John E. DeCoste aka Terry Carter. Terry was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 16, 1928, the only child of William and Mercedes DeCoste. Terry’s mother was a native of the Dominican Republic. His father was American born, of Argentine and African-American descent. Terry’s parents taught him Spanish as well as English as a child. Growing up in a bilingual, bicultural household, in a predominantly Italian, Williamsburg neighborhood, next door to a Jewish synagogue, was an early influence in developing Terry’s appreciation for cultural diversity.

Terry remembers walking his first picket line at age 8, at his father’s side, in a demonstration to support demands for better conditions for recipients of “home relief”, as the welfare program of the day was called. 
At the age of 9, Terry acted for the very first time: in the role of the 15th century Portuguese explorer “Vasco da Gama” in a historical play about the discovery of America, in auditorium of his elementary school, P.S. 88 in Brooklyn.
When Terry graduated Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 1946, he enlisted in the merchant marine to see the world. As a crew member on the SS Marine Marlin, he sailed to Germany and walked among the utter devastation that was once the proud port of Bremerhaven. The merchant ship took on as passengers displaced persons, and former prisoners of war and concentration camp survivors and transported them from Germany and other European ports to Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil. After six months as a seaman, Terry took a job as a mail clerk at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
As part of the museum’s program, the museum film department exhibited a seemingly endless film festival of avant-garde independent and foreign films. Terry tried to see every one of them. The year that he spent at the museum altered his life course: he became an ardent devotee of the arts and an avid film buff. He made acquaintances with many young painters and writers, some of whom later became famous.
After that year, Terry went off to Northeastern University in Boston to study pre-law. While there, he worked weekends as a “piano player” with a jazz combo, drawing on his experience of classical piano study from age 8 through 15. They played at night clubs, and for weddings and bar mitzvahs. In the 1950s, while studying law at St. John’s University Law School in New York, he met the well-known theatre actors Howard Da Silva and Morris Carnovsky. They convinced him to consider the pursuit of a career as an actor.
Realizing that drama training would help him in the courtroom, he studied law by day and acting by night. His first drama teacher was Howard Da Silva, who offered him a scholarship at Actors Mobile Theatre, Da Silva’s acting school. Terry took classes in Method Acting. It wasn’t long before he lost interest in the prospects of a law career: After his second year at law school, he dropped out and began to study acting full-time. As a young teenager, Terry had already taken on the nickname “Terry”, after the adventurous young hero of the popular newspaper cartoon Terry & the Pirates by Milton Caniff. Terry kept on using the name through high school. When he got into show business, he got tired of the white people asking him how come he had a foreign-sounding last name, since most African Americans they knew had Anglo-Saxon surnames such as Wilson, Jones or Jackson. So, Terry switched from “DeCoste” to the more English-sounding “Carter” for his professional name, as did many actors of that era who had foreign-sounding names (e.g. Kirk Douglas, John Garfield and Jack Benny), and has used it ever since. 
Terry’s acting career started in 1952 with a leading role in Edward Chodorov’s Decision, at the Greenwich Mews Theatre in Greenwich Village. He became a member of the theatre group and the following year, in Les Pine’s play, Monday’s Heroes, he played the part of a teenager in a Jewish family, with no special makeup. It was an early experiment in non-traditional casting. Terry studied with Herbert Berghof, Uta Hagen and Stella Adler in those years. Terry landed his first Broadway role in 1954, as the male lead opposite Eartha Kitt, in the play Mrs. Patterson. The company toured major cities before opening on Broadway at the National Theater, for a run of several months. Later, he played the part of “Howard” in the revival of E.Y. Harburg’s Finian’s Rainbow (1955) at the City Center Theater.
In 1956, Terry was one of the first black actors on equal-footing as a regular on a TV sitcom series, portraying “Private Sugarman” on Phil Silvers’ Sgt. Bilko (aka You’ll Never get Rich aka The Phil Silvers Show). The series lasted four years, and was the model for subsequent comedy series about the military, such as Hogan’s Heroes and McHale’s Navy. In 1957, Terry played the title role in “Bob Thomas of the Philadelphia Inquirer”, part of The Big Story series which focused on the outstanding achievements of journalists. A non-smoker, Terry had to learn to smoke in order to play key scenes in the teleplay.
The series sponsor was Pall Mall cigarettes, and the show was broadcast live, so it was crucial that Terry smoke convincingly. He carried it off, but he has never smoked another cigarette since. 
In 1962, Terry returned to Europe for an extended stay. He lived some months in Paris and then spent a year in Denmark before moving onto Rome. In Rome, he learned to speak fluent Italian. Terry fell in love with his language tutor, the Italo-Yugoslavian Anna Scratuglia. In the fall of 1963, Terry returned to the United States. In 1964, he asked Anna to join him in New York. They married and later had two children: a son, Miguel, and a daughter, Melinda, both of whom were raised speaking Italian as well as English.
In 1965, walking up Broadway one day, Terry ran into a producer friend who suggested that he do a screen test for the position of TV newscaster. Although he had no journalistic background, he drew upon his 13 years of experience as an actor and landed the job: Terry Carter became world’s first black TV anchor newscaster, for WBZ-TV Eyewitness News in Boston, the Westinghouse flagship station, for the next 3 years. 
In addition to covering crime stories and “hard” news, Terry became Boston TV’s first opening night drama and movie critic. Even though Terry was now a TV newscaster, he still maintained his relationship with the William Morris Agency.
While summering in Rome in 1967, Terry was sent by the Morris Agency to meet Italian producer Dino deLaurentiis and avant-garde art film director Tinto Brass, who asked him to star in his movie, Nerosubianco (aka Black on White or Attraction), set in London. Since he was still a TV newscaster, Terry had to request a 13-week leave of absence from his news anchor job, in order to work in the film. Although it was an unprecedented request for Westinghouse, he got it. Before long, he realized that his first love was acting. Once his three-year newsroom contract was up, he packed his bags and he and his wife moved to Hollywood, in search of greener pastures.
His first important role on arriving in Hollywood in 1968 was as a detective named “Jaffie”, in the made-for-TV movie Company of Killers, in which he worked alongside Van Johnson and Ray Milland. From 1968-71, singer Diahann Carroll became the first Black female to star in her own TV sitcom series, Julia. Terry had a recurring role as Julia’s boyfriend “Bert”.
 
In December 1969, only 5 months after Neil Armstrong takes his first step onto the Moon, Terry played the role of “Mike Carter”, the first Black astronaut to the Moon, in The Bold Ones: The New Doctors. Many of the scenes were filmed in the actual Apollo Spacecraft.
During the 1970’s Terry starred in several Blaxploitation films, including the 1974 film Foxy Brown with Pam Grier. He also starred in Abby 1974, and Brother on the run 1973. In 1975, Terry founded Meta-4 Productions, Inc., a small Los Angeles production company, through which he produced and directed more than one hundred industrial and educational films and videos for public broadcasting and for virtually every agency of the federal government. Terry also formed the Council for Positive Images, Inc., (CPI) a non-profit organization of which he is still president, in 1979, dedicated to enhancing intercultural and interethnic understanding through audiovisual communication. Under the Council’s auspices, he has produced and directed award-winning dramatic and documentary programs for PBS, focusing on cultural and historical topics.
In 1978, McCloud’s creator Glen Larson and producer Leslie Stevens were asked to make a major film for television in response to the success of the Star Wars trilogy of George Lucas. 
Star Wars special effects specialist John Dykstra and his team were brought in to start on the models for what would become the most expensive film ever made for television: Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a Star World. The cast was a mix of young, still relatively unknown actors like Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict, combined with legends as Bonanza’s Lorne Greene, Ray Milland, Lew Ayres and Alfred Hyde-White.
Terry, who’d just worked with creator Glen Larson and producer Leslie Steven on McCloud for 7 years, was selected for the part of “Lt. Boomer”. As chance would have it, Terry broke his ankle roller skating with his daughter a shortly before Galactica started filming. The part of “Lt. Boomer” was then re-cast and given to young actor Herb Jefferson, Jr. But the 7 years on McCloud must have made an impression on its producers, because Terry was later offered another part in the series: that of “Colonel Tigh”, the right hand of “Commander Adama”. Still a warrior rather then a diplomat, “Tigh” was often at odds with “Adama” on his decisions. It was a part Terry found even more challenging and satisfying to play Since Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a Star World cost an enormous amount of money to make it was quickly decided to turn it into a TV series. A combination of multiple last-minute script revisions, the costs of $1 million per episode and a bad TV time slot made the network decide to cancel the show after just one season.
Terry made a reprise in 1999 and played the part of now “President Tigh” in Richard Hatch’ trailer Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming, an attempt to revive the original series. In 1980, Terry was elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, where he served two terms. In 1983,
Terry was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He served on the Documentary Committee and the Foreign Films Committee for the Oscars. That same year, Northeastern University awarded him a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications. In 1985, Terry received a Los Angeles Emmy Award for K*I*D*S, a TV miniseries he created, produced and directed. K*I*D*S was the story of a multi-racial group of teenagers struggling to cope with some of the adult-sized conflicts confronting youth in America today. In 1987-88, Terry produced and directed JazzMasters, a series of video portraits of twelve great jazz artists for TV2 Denmark. The series featured interviews and performances of Chet Baker, Kenny Drew, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Herbie Hancock, Bobby Hutcherson, Carmen McRae, James Moody, Niels-Henning, Wayne Shorter, Clark Terry, and Randy Weston. In 1988, Terry produced and directed the award-winning, Emmy-nominated TV musical documentary A Duke Named Ellington about the life and work of pianist, composer, bandleader and jazz legend Duke Ellington. Making this documentary required Terry to spend a lot of time in Copenhagen, Denmark, where Duke’s son Mercer lived.
In 1991, Terry was sent to China by the USIA (United States Information Agency), on a cultural lecture tour. He visited then-British Hong Kong, and Beijing, Chengdu, Chong Ching, Guang Zhou and Shen Yang, meeting Chinese filmmakers and students, and lecturing on his experience as a filmmaker in the U.S. In 1992, Terry started research and development on what is to become a 90-minute documentary for PBS about African-American anthropologist, dancer, and choreographer Katherine Dunham, whose show-stopping performances greatly influenced the evolution of American dance theatre. Terry’s biopic Katherine Dunham: Dancing with Life is about Ms. Dunham’s extraordinary life and work. In 1998, Terry appeared in the Swedish international thriller movie and TV miniseries Hamilton, in which he played “Texas Slim” head of the CIA.
Filmography: Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming (1999)
Trailer - Hamilton (1998)
Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a World (1978)
Abby (1974)
Benji (1974)
Foxy Brown (1974)
Brother on the Run (1973)
Nerosublanco (1969)
Parrish (1961)
Source: Wikipedia, IMBD and Terry Carter.net
It All Started With The Comic Strip…
The Friday Foster comic strip debuted on January 18, 1970 and ran until 1974. Friday Foster was the first mainstream syndicated comic strip to feature a Black woman in the lead role. Prior to this, other than a handful of broadly stereotyped caricatures from the industry’s very early days and a few series aimed solely at Black newspapers, no American comic strip had ever borne the name of a Black lead character.
Friday Foster was a former fashion model who became an assistant to a world-famous photographer, and the strip was about her comings and goings in the modeling and magazine / publishing worlds.
The strip was created by writer Jim Lawrence, illustrated by artist Jorje Longeron, and syndicated by The Chicago Tribune Syndicate to twenty-five newspapers across the country.
Which Then Became A Comic Book…
In 1972, Dell created a one-of-a-kind Friday Foster comic book edition, as no further comics were issued for this character. In the comic, Friday Foster is an assistant to world famous fashion photographer Shawn North.
Then Came The Movie…and Pam Grier
In 1975, Friday Foster was made into a feature film. The film was written and directed by Arthur Marks and starred Pam Grier in the lead role. Yaphet Kotto and Eartha Kitt also co-starred.
The Plot:
Friday Foster is a magazine photographer who refuses to heed her boss’s admonitions against becoming involved in the stories to which she is assigned. After witnessing an assassination attempt on the nation’s wealthiest Black and then seeing her best friend murdered, Friday finds herself targeted for death. She teams up with private detective Colt Hawkins to investigate, and soon, the two are hot on the trail of plot to eliminate the country’s Black political leadership.
In addition to the standard blaxploitation plot elements, the film also dealt with the themes of the power and importance of Black political unity and the potential threat posed not only by the perceived white power structure, but also by those Blacks willing to betray that goal in search of reward from that establishment.
Tagline: Wham! Bam! Here comes Pam!
And Now Finally There Is The Doll…
In 2009, Robert Tonner created a doll collection based on the Friday Foster comic character. The collection includes five different versions of Friday Foster, marking the first time that Robert Tonner has explored the style of the 1970s in a primary fashion doll collection.
