White Guys to Pay Tribute to Black Guy

NEW YORK, NY-- A distinguished panel of famous white guys, including novelists Pete Hamill and Norman Mailer, filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino and Billy Crystal, and journalists Nat Hentoff, Studs Terkel, George Will and George Plimpton will pay tribute to a black guy who was famous in the '40s and '50s in a two-part four-hour documentary produced by Ken Burns. PBS will broadcast the program in the fall of 2006.

"From humble beginnings, this black guy enjoyed incredible success and unbelievable failure. More than anyone else, this black guy personified the American experience of the 20th century." Burns said.

Using film footage, television appearances, old photographs and reminiscences from family and friends, the film will follow this black guy's life from his impoverished childhood to his success and eventual downfall; including his troubles with the IRS, bankruptcy and multiple addictions including gambling, drugs and alcohol.

The black guy, who died penniless in the early '70s, is said to have influenced several generations of white guys. "This black guy wore the fanciest suits, drove the fastest cars and introduced a new kind of flash and style to a bland Eisenhower Era," said Pete Hamill, who once planned a biography of this black guy. "Whether it was getting in the ring with Sugar Ray Robinson, playing a set with Bird, going onstage with Brando or drinking the Rat Pack under the table...this black guy was always at the top of his game." Added Norman Mailer, who claims to have once head-butted the black guy at Toots Shors: "This black guy personified the existential crisis of the era." Joked Billy Crystal, who claims to have met one of the black guy's sons at a Muhammad Ali fight: "Me and Sheldon Greenblatt used to hang out in front of Green's Candy Store in Great Neck and try to do impressions of this black guy. Most of the time Sheldon won and I had to be content with imitating Mickey Mantle!" Cried Quentin Tarantino: "I wanted to cast this black guy in Pulp Fiction and then someone told me that he was dead. I was devastated." Interjected Martin Scorsese "There's a scene in Jacques Tourneur 's great 1947 film noir Out of the Past with Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum where Douglas offers Mitchum a cigarette and Mitchum, who is already smoking one says 'Smoking.' To me, that scene captures the essence of this black guy."

Random House will publish a hardcover companion to the documentary, which will also be available on VHS and DVD through Warner Home Video with a soundtrack CD to be released by Sony Music. Burns will also make a tour of universities and lecture halls to promote the program.