April 2009 | blackfilm.com | ISAIAH WASHINGTON NEWS

April 2009

ISAIAH WASHINGTON NEWS

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ISAIAH WASHINGTON NEWS
Washington to play legendary crooner Lou Rawls in feature film

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

April 26, 2009

Whether this film gets off the ground or in theaters is another matter. Biopics on entertainment legends Marvin Gaye and Richard Pryor have yet to get underway despite the casting of Jesse L. Martin and Eddie Murphy in those roles, respectively. Previous projects based on the lives of Ray Charles and Johnny Cash have garnered critical acclaim and became noteworthy Oscar fare.

The Hollywood Reporter states that former 'Grey's Anatomy' star Isaiah Washington will portray the legendary singer Lou Rawls in a feature film. Pathway Entertainment has acquired the script 'Through the Eyes of a Son,' which was written by his son Lou Rawls Jr.

Born in Chicago in 1933, Rawls sang in a range of styles that included blues, soul, funk and R&B, selling millions of albums and earning legions of fans, as well as the accolades of Frank Sinatra. He also, according to the script, had a traumatic life, enduring a poverty-stricken childhood and, in adulthood, intense marital strife.

Pathway's Robert Egan and Dimi Sloane co-wrote the script with Rawls Jr., and Egan and Rawls Jr. will serve as producers. Another writer is expected to come on to do a polish.

According to Egan, "We're showing the real story -- what he was doing to his wife before walking out onstage and wooing the audience with a big smile." He added that the film will move around in time to different periods of the singer's life.

Rawls, who died in 2006, also had a side career in Hollywood, lending his voice to such cartoons as 'Garfield' and 'Hey Arnold!' and making appearances in movies like 'Blues Brothers 2000.'

Washington hasn't had much success since his ouster from the popular ABC drama series. He had a recurring role on NBC's 'Bionic Woman' before the show was canceled. His latest film, 'Hurricane Season,' the Weinstein Co./Dimension Films story of a New Orleans basketball team after Hurricane Katrina, has yet to get a release date after being pushed back from its Christmas 2008 release.

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