11-01-2019, 04:09 PM
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happy now, Mussolini?
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: location, location
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Re: BREAKING: Sometimes Famous People Die
John Witherspoon, Actor in ‘Friday’ and Other Movies, Dies at 77
Quote:
“Last year, I worked 46 weeks of the year doing stand up. Forty-six.”
This was John Witherspoon, speaking on Netflix’s podcast “Strong Black Legends,” in an episode released in April. At first listen, touring almost 90 percent of the year seems like too much for a man in his mid-70s, a man whose fame spans decades and touches multiple generations, and a man with catchphrases that have cemented themselves firmly within black comedic lore.
But when you think about who “Pops” is, and what his legacy will be, you realize John Witherspoon, who died Tuesday at the age of 77, was a working actor in the most triumphant connotation of the title...
Taking a trip through his filmography, there are some truths about his career, ones he’s acknowledged. For starters, acting meant money, and John Witherspoon loved getting that paper. So, was every movie and television show a classic? Absolutely not. Some were outright bad. But his presence in any project ensured a moment so memorable and singular, it routinely became “That movie with John Witherspoon.” There are films that feature him in a small role that, in my mind, he was a star of — because his parts were the only ones I remembered. And there are episodes of television in which he’d cameo, and the only way to describe that episode going forward was “The John Witherspoon episode.”
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