Directors: Marvin J. Chomsky; John Erman; David Greene; Gilbert Moses

Writers: William Blinn; M. Charles Cohen; Ernest Kinoy; James Lee

From novel: Roots by Alex Haley

Keywords: Drama, Slavery, Ku Klux Klan, Controversial

Alex Haley traces his family descent back to Kunta Kinte, a young West African captured by slavers in the mid-18th Century and brought to Virginia. Television miniseries in 10 parts, and by far the best miniseries ever produced for broadcast television, captivating the entire country in 1977. Won 9 Emmy Awards including Outstanding Limited Series. Followed by a sequel, Roots: The Next Generations (1979), picking up from the late 19th Century.

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for
John Amos	Actor	27-Dec-1939		James Evans on Good Times
Ed Asner	Actor	15-Nov-1929		Lou Grant
Lloyd Bridges	Actor	15-Jan-1913	10-Mar-1998	Airplane!
Georg Stanford Brown	Actor	24-Jun-1943		Officer Webster on The Rookies
LeVar Burton	Actor	16-Feb-1957		La Forge on Star Trek: TNG
Chuck Connors	Actor	10-Apr-1921	10-Nov-1992	The Rifleman
Scatman Crothers	Jazz Musician	23-May-1910	22-Nov-1986	Jazz musician and actor
Thayer David	Actor	4-Mar-1927	17-Jul-1978	Jergens in Rocky
Brad Davis	Actor	6-Nov-1949	8-Sep-1991	Midnight Express
Yvonne De Carlo	Actor	1-Sep-1922	8-Jan-2007	Lily on The Munsters
Sandy Duncan	Actor	20-Feb-1946		Valerie
Richard Farnsworth	Actor	1-Sep-1920	6-Oct-2000	Comes a Horseman
Lynda Day George	Actor	11-Dec-1944		Lisa Casey on Mission: Impossible
Tracey Gold	Actor	16-May-1969		Growing Pains
Lou Gossett, Jr.	Actor	27-May-1936		Drill Sgt. in An Officer and a Gentleman
Lorne Greene	Actor	12-Feb-1915	11-Sep-1987	Ben Cartwright on Bonanza
Moses Gunn	Actor	2-Oct-1929	16-Dec-1993	Bumpy Jonas in Shaft
George Hamilton	Actor	12-Aug-1939		Well-tanned celebrity
Hilly Hicks	Actor	4-May-1950		Character actor
Carolyn Jones	Actor	28-Apr-1929	3-Aug-1983	Morticia on The Addams Family
Yaphet Kotto	Actor	15-Nov-1937		Homicide
Lynne Moody	Actor	17-Feb-1950		Patricia Williams on Knots Landing
Vic Morrow	Actor	14-Feb-1929	23-Jul-1982	Sgt. Chip Saunders on Combat
John Quade	Actor	1-Apr-1938	9-Aug-2009	Every Which Way But Loose
Lillian Randolph	Actor	14-Dec-1898	12-Sep-1980	Birdie on The Great Gildersleeve
Robert Reed	Actor	19-Oct-1932	12-May-1992	Mike (dad) on The Brady Bunch
Richard Roundtree	Actor	9-Jul-1942		Shaft
Madge Sinclair	Actor	28-Apr-1938	20-Dec-1995	Nurse Shoop on Trapper John
Ernest Thomas	Actor	26-Mar-1950		Raj on What's Happening
Cicely Tyson	Actor	18-Dec-1924		Sounder
Leslie Uggams	Actor	25-May-1943		Roots
Ben Vereen	Actor	10-Oct-1946		Jesus Christ Superstar
Ralph Waite	Actor	22-Jun-1928	13-Feb-2014	John Walton, Sr. on The Waltons

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