The Jacksons: An American Dream is a five-hour miniseries broadcast in two halves on ABC and originally broadcast on November 15 through November 18, 1992. It is based upon the history of the Jackson family, one of the most successful musical families in show business, and the early and successful years of the popular Motown group The Jackson 5.
The miniseries was executive produced by Suzanne de Passe and Stan Margulies, produced by Joyce Eliason, Jermaine Jackson and Margaret Maldonado, and directed by Karen Arthur.
The Jacksons: An American Dream is based on Katherine Jackson's My Family autobiography. A critical and commercial success, the program won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Choreography, while the performances of Hilton-Jacobs and Bassett received widespread acclaim.
The miniseries stars Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as the Jacksons' patriarch Joseph Jackson, Angela Bassett as the family matriarch Katherine Jackson. Alex Burrall, Jason Weaver and Wylie Draper played Michael Jackson in different eras, while Bumper Robinson and Terrence Howard played Jackie Jackson in different eras, Shakiem Jamar Evans and Angel Vargas played Tito Jackson, Margaret Avery played Katherine's mother, Martha Scruse, Holly Robinson Peete played Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams played Berry Gordy and Vanessa Williams played Suzanne de Passe. The opening sequence of the film features footage of the real Jacksons rehearsing, performing on stage, a few clips from the "Can You Feel It" music video, album covers, magazine covers, a snippet from their cartoon, and pictures of the family. The film is mostly based on the autobiography written by Katherine Jackson, and issued in 1990, entitled My Family. The entire mini-series spans a period of about 40 years.
Act 1 of the film is based on young Katherine and Joseph meeting and courting in the 1940s and showing how they managed to start out raising their children in Gary, Indiana in the 1950s and 1960s, how Joseph discovers the children have talent and starts entering them in talent shows, and finally how The Jackson 5 go on to have early fame and face its consequences in the late 1960s.
Act 2 of the film deals with the struggles of young Michael Jackson as he faces his brothers marrying early into The Jackson 5's success, his problems with acne as a teenager, and the group's eventual switch to Epic Records in the 1970s, his eventual solo superstardom based on the success of his albums Off the Wall and Thriller, the commercial mishap that caused his hair to ignite, and his legendary Motown 25 performance of "Billie Jean", as well as confronting his difficult relationship with his father in the 1980s.
For such an iconic star, would anyone ever be brave enough to play him?
Joseph Fiennes was due to play Michael Jackson in a controversial episode of Urban Myths, but the project was never aired after a backlash online.
Rogue One actor Diego Luna played him in the 2007 film Mister Lonely, but his character was actually a look-alike rather than Michael himself.
Donald Fullilove voiced a young Michael in the 1971 animated series Jackson 5ive, but what else?
There have only been two times that people have genuinely portrayed the adult Michael: in the 1992 TV movie The Jacksons: An American Dream, and its spiritual 2004 follow-up Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story, starring Flex Alexander.
The Jacksons starred three actors - Alex Burrall, Jason Weaver and Wylie Draper - as Michael at different ages, with Draper portraying a grown-up Michael.
And 38 million people watched it at the time.
Wylie Draper nailed the performance, including the iconic Moonwalk at the Motown 25 performance of 'Billie Jean'. But what did he do next?
Draper started dancing at a young age, and appeared at local skating rinks in West Virginia with his brother Desmond. After graduating from college, he worked as a dancer at Disney World, before auditioning to play Michael in the 1992 film.
Although he received positive reviews and an Emmy award, he sadly didn't land many film or TV offers. He also had a small role in The Disappearance of Christina, but not much else.
He was however hired by Michael himself to dance in the video for 'Remember the Time'.
Tragically, in 1993, Wylie was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia, and he died on December 20 in Los Angeles at the age of 24, with little media coverage at the time.
A year after his death, his family established The Wylie Draper Foundation in celebration of his life. Its website states that the WDF supports young artists through an annual memorial scholarship in Wylie's memory. It also raises awareness for bone-marrow donation, especially in the African-American community.
We might not have been able to see what else Wylie Draper could have achieved, but his biggest role was truly excellent, and all Michael Jackson fans out there should watch it in tribute to both men.
26 сен 2024
