Was Pretty Willy really black?


I mean David Lemieux the actor, not the character. Not that it matters either way, I'm just curious. He had the best line in the movie, and I don't even remember it being in the book.

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[deleted]

Excuse me? He is DEFINITELY Black. I know for a fact because he is my father.

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[deleted]

Thank you for that. I've submitted a link to this topic with a request that the reference in the "Trivia" section be removed. Personally, I believe he had the best line in the whole film!

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No, David is Caucasian. I know because I went to grade school with him at St. Thomas the Apostle in Chicago. Today, he's a detective with the Chicago PD.

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Are you sure? He looks like a very light mulatto.

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Dude was definitely black---I've seen brothers and sisters the same exact color as he for most of my life---black people come in ALL different shades of colors,FYI. Believe me, just because someone looks Caucasian dosen't mean he/she really is, or that they even consider themselves cuturally "white",for that matter. I've seen Arabs,Latinos, and East Indians who are just as light-skinned as Mr. Lemieux is. I have to admit the first time I saw this film, I was confused as to why Freeman would let a white guy into the group, until the character made it very clear that he saw himself as a black man,period, no matter how light-skinned he was. Also, when you think about it, why the hell would the producer and director (both black) have picked a white actor to play a black man? That dosen't make any damn sense whatsoever.

Anyway, my favorite scene in the film (and there are many) is when Freeman sits in the car the day after the riots with his old college chum and breaks it down to him about what the police's real role in the ghetto really is---I loved hearing that because even 35 years later, there's still so much truth in what he said. The film itself was pretty good, as well as the acting---can anyone tell me why it flopped in the first place? Just saw it last night on DVD for the 2nd time in years and enjoyed it even better this time around. I also liked the commentary by Sam Greenlee (the author of the book/producer of the film) because it was hiliarious, as well as him speaking truth to power about how the film system works. I've always wondered if the film's subject matter (it actually made you think) doomed it into obscurity, since it wasn't a typical so-called blaxploitaiton flick to begin with. Whatever-I'm glad it's on DVD--I first saw it on a murky, dark VHS tape I rented out years ago.

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french sounding last name

perhaps he's creole or cajun from new orleans

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You'd think people never saw a pale black person before. Well, he is. His daughter is Jamilah Lemieux(African-American blogger).

Here's a link to an interview he did somewhat recently:

http://www.tomorrowpictures.tv/2010/02/21/black-panther-to-homicide-detective-interview-with-chicago-cop-part-1/#comments

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Well I guess that closes this case. LOL IMO a lot of white people have a very skewed vision of what black people look like. My father who btw was also a Homicide Detective for the NYPD died while he and my mother was on vacation a few years back. Now I am as light as the actor this thread is about but my father was not a light skin man. His complexion was medium brown. When we went to the funeral home they were holding his body my aunt, his sister, noticed something odd on the death certificate. It stated he was a white man and she pointed it out. There was no way my father would of been mistaken for anything else then a black man. But surprisingly to me that was a false assumption I had. So when a question about race is asked about a person like me or that actor, a lot of white people are really are confused.

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David Lemieux (born 1953) African-American actor (The Spook Who Sat by the Door), former member of the Black Panther Party, retired Chicago Police detective and activist (IMDb profile)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemieux

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Watching the Documentary of the Film he is Mixed Race..A Lightskinned Mulatto.

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It is a relevant question, and I suspect others were as confused by the character as I was because I found it unclear whether he was black by race or solely by identity. I'm glad others cleared it up in this thread.

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