The Wiz
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Sidney Lumet
Diana Ross
Michael Jackson
Nipsey Russell
Ted Ross
Mabel King
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
One night during a New York City snowstorm, a young African-American kindergarten teacher leaves a large family dinner to chase after her dog. To Dorothy's dismay, she gets swept up by a cyclone and transplanted to the urban version of the land of Oz.
Director
Sidney Lumet
Cast
Diana Ross
Michael Jackson
Nipsey Russell
Ted Ross
Mabel King
Theresa Merritt
Thelma Carpenter
Lena Horne
Richard Pryor
Stanley Greene
Clyde Barrett
Derrick Bell
Roderick Specer Sibert
Kashka Banjoko
Ronald Stevens
Tony Brealond
Joe Lynn
Clinton Jackson
Charles Rodriguez
Carlton Johnson
Ted Williams
Mabel Robinson
Damon Pearce
Donna Patrice Ingram
Harry Madsen
Gloria Van Scott
Vicki Baltimore
Carlos Cleveland
Mariann Aalda
Aaron Boddie
Gay Faulkner
Ted Butler
T B Skinner
Jamie Perry
Daphne Mcwilliams
Douglas Berring
James Shaw
Johnny Brown
Gyle Waddy
Dorothy Fox
Frances Salisbury
Beatrice Dunmore
Traci Core
Donald King
Claude Brooks
Billie Allen
Willie C Carpenter
Denice Dejon
Kevin Stockton
Alvin Alexis
Crew
Dede Allen
Nickolas Ashford
Tom Bahler
Tom Bahler
Mendel Balitz
L. Frank Baum
Chris Boardman
Stan Bochner
William F Brown
Thelma Carpenter
Rob Cohen
Guy Costa
Everett Creach
Robert Drumheller
Ralph Ferraro
Jack Fitzstephens
Jack Fitzstephens
Bob Florence
Bob Freedman
Dennis Glouner
Sam Goldrich
Al Griswold
Ken Harper
Burtt Harris
Dick Hazard
Lena Horne
Anthony Jackson
Michael Jackson
Louis Johnson
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Mabel King
Robert Laden
Marc M Laub
Hal Levinsohn
Greig Mcritchie
Theresa Merritt
Pete Meyers
John J. Moore
Oswald Morris
Al Nahmias
Frank Owens
Jack Priestley
Wayne Robinson
Ronald Roose
Philip Rosenberg
Diana Ross
Ted Ross
Nipsey Russell
James Sabat
Joel Schumacher
Valerie Simpson
Charlie Smalls
Charlie Smalls
Charlie Smalls
Edward Stewart
Bill Taylor
Robert N Tucker
Kenneth Utt
Luther Vandross
Richard Vorisek
Tony Walton
Tony Walton
Albert Whitlock
Stan Winston
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Score
Best Song Score
Articles
Richard Pryor (1940-2005)
He was born Richard Thomas Pryor III on December 1, 1940 in Peoria, Illinois. By all accounts, his childhood was a difficult one. His mother was a prostitute and his grandmother ran a brothel. His father was rarely around and when he was, he would physically abuse him. From a young age, Pryor knew that humor was his weapon of choice to cut through all the swath he came across and would confront in his life.
After high school, he enlisted in the Army for a two-year stint (1958-60). When he was discharged (honorably!) he concentrated on stand-up comedy and worked in a series of nightclubs before relocating to New York City in 1963. In 1964, he made his television debut when he was given a slot on the variety program On Broadway Tonight. His routine, though hardly the groundbreaking material we would witness in later years, was very well received, and in the late '60s Pryor found more television work: Toast of the Town, The Wild Wild West, The Mod Squad ; and was cast in a two movies: The Busy Body (1967) with Sid Caesar; and Wild in the Streets (1968) a cartoonish political fantasy about the internment of all American citizens over 30.
Pryor's career really didn't ignite until the '70s. His stand up act became raunchier and more politically motivated as he touched on issued of race, failed relationships, drug addiction, and street crimes. His movie roles became far more captivating in the process: the piano man in Lady Sings the Blues (1972); as a wise-talking hustler in a pair of slick urban thrillers: The Mack (1973) and Uptown Saturday Night (1974); the gregarious Daddy Rich in Car Wash; his first pairing with Gene Wilder as Grover, the car thief who helps stops a runaway train in his first real box office smash Silver Streak (both 1976); and for many critics, his finest dramatic performance as a factory worker on the edge of depression in Paul Schrader's excellent working class drama Blue Collar (1978).
On a personal level, his drug dependency problem worsened, and on June 9, 1980, near tragedy struck when he caught fire while free-basing cocaine. Pryor later admitted that the incident, was, in fact, a suicide attempt, and that his management company created the lie for the press in hopes of protecting him. Fortunately, Pryor had three films in the can that all achieved some level of financial success soon after his setback: another pairing with Gene Wilder in the prison comedy Stir Crazy (1980); a blisteringly funny cameo as God who flips off Andy Kaufman in the warped religious satire In God We Tru$t (1980); an a ex-con helping a social worker (Cicely Tyson) with her foster charges in Bustin' Loose (1981). He capped his recovery with Live on the Sunset Strip (1982), a first-rate documentation of the comic's genius performed in front of a raucous live audience.
In 1983, Pryor signed a $40 million, five-year contract with Columbia Pictures. For many fans and critics, this was the beginning of his downslide. His next few films: The Toy, Superman III (both 1983), and Brewster's Millions (1985) were just tiresome, mediocre comedies. Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling (1986), was his only attempt at producing, directing, and acting, and the film, which was an ambitious autobiographical account of a his life and career, was a box-office disappointment. He spent the remainder of the '80s in middling fare: Condition Critical (1987), Moving; a third pairing with Gene Wilder in See No Evil, Hear No Evil; and his only teaming with Eddie Murphy in Harlem Nights (1989).
In 1986, Pryor was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system that curtailed both his personal appearances and his gift for physical comedy in his latter films. By the '90s, little was seen of Pryor, but in 1995, he made a courageous comeback on television when he guest starred on Chicago Hope as an embittered multiple sclerosis patient. His performance earned him an Emmy nomination and he was cast in a few more films: Mad Dog Time (1996), Lost Highway (1997), but his physical ailments prohibited him from performing on a regular basis. In 1998, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington gave Pryor the first Mark Twain Prize for humor. It was fitting tribute for a man who had given so much honesty and innovation in the field of comedy. Pryor is survived by his wife, Jennifer Lee; his sons Richard and Steven; and daughters Elizabeth, Rain and Renee.
by Michael T. Toole
Richard Pryor (1940-2005)
Quotes
Trivia
'Michael Jackson' 's song "You Can't Win" was originally written for the stage version, for the Winkies to sing to Dorothy about the futility of escaping from Evillene. The song was cut from the play during pre-Broadway tryouts but was included in the film as the Scarecrow's song.
In his book "Making Movies", Sidney Lumet admits that a production number was cut that was supposed to take place in the plaza of the World Trade Center because the high winds there disrupted filming.
Simultaneously with the release of the film, Congoleum, the flooring company that created the Yellow Brick Road for the film, marketed the same design (called "Yellow Brick Road") for home use.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Fall October 24, 1978
Released in United States November 2006
Released in United States Fall October 24, 1978
Released in United States November 2006 (Shown at AFI/Los Angeles Film Festival (20 Years of AFI Fest) November 1-12, 2006.)