Roots Factoids
Facts about Roots
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The African Queen - Kunta Kinte's wife, Belle Reynold, was played by Jamaican-born Madge Sinclair. She also played the wife of two other iconic African characters in American film: Mufasa from The Lion King and Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America. (Photo: Disney)
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Ed Asner - Ed Asner's character, Captain Thomas Davies, was not in the book and was made for TV to show the moral conflict white people had about slavery.(Photo: Vince Bucci/Getty Images)
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Ratings on ABC - Of Roots' high ratings, an ABC executive said, "One third of America was snowed in, one third of America is Black and one third watches ABC anyway." (Photo: ABC)
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Crouthers, who played Mingo in Roots, was also the voice for Roadblock in G.I. Joe and Jazz in Transformers. - (Photo: The Cartoon Network)
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Roots: The Gift - Louis Gossett Jr. and LeVar Burton reprised their Roots characters, Fiddler and Kunta Kinte, in this two-hour movie for television based on an idea by author Alex Haley. Fiddler and Kunta accompany their plantation owner, Dr. Reynolds, to help their neighbors, the Parkers, with Christmas preparations. While there, they learn that Parker's son, Edmund, is involved with the Underground Railroad. (Photo: ABC)
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