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By Nikki Roberts
Staff Writer
Although Charles Dutton is dressed in
a conservative blue suit and his voice is as
coaxing as it is powerful, you can’t help
but affectionately relate to him as the rough-
edged, garbage-man who entered
America’s living room every Sunday night
as the character “Roc.”
The recent divorcee of actress Debrah
Morgan and ex-boyfriend of Hollywood
star Angela Basset, leans back in the folds
of the reclining chair and tells you why he
chose the character “Huey” in the
upcoming Paramount Pictures release
“Nick of Time.”
“I thought the plot was totally
implausible at the first reading. But it was
actually a challenge to play the character
of Huey. I didn’t give an ounce of concern
to his occupation being a ‘shoe-shine-guy’
because anything I play, I’m going to give
it some dignity and integrity. He just
wasn't a guy who shined shoes,” Dutton
said in the roundtable interview.
Viewing “shoe-shine-men” and black
barbers as “philosophers,” Dutton
expounds on this reasoning.
“You’re not gonna go into a barber
shop or a shoe-shine-stand in the black
community and not come away learning
something about the world and life. Now,
you may want to get out the chair and hurry
up and get the hell out of there, but you’ll
learn something.”
Although Dutton enjoys his personal
success, there are still several issues in the
arena of black actors/actresses that still
disturb him.
“I have less criticism of the film industry
than television because I think the film
industry is a choice. You get a script, you
do it or you don’t. The problem I see with
film is that there aren’t enough black
women working in it. There are several
black men that are doing well in film,
they’re constantly working. I still have a
major, major beef with TV. 1 don’t see any
progress since I’ve left it.”
So, why isn't the highly acclaimed
television series “Roc” on television
anymore?
“Having worked in television for three
years, I don’t think it has anything to do
with money. I think it’s all bigotry. My
example is, whenever we did episodes of
“Roc” that were social episodes about
something, those shows always received
the highest ratings. [Fox] would take all
the accolades and the great reviews and on
Monday they would call [me] and say:
‘that was a great show, but you can’t do
that every week.’ My answerwas ‘are you
out for ratings or are out to suppress my
artistic views?’ With the exception of The
Simpsons, “Roc” was the highest rated
show on Fox three or four years ago.”
Dutton reclines a little more in his
chair. His face is calm, but there is a subtle
hint of anger as he speaks adamantly of
present-day black sitcoms.
“I feel if I were doing what Martin
Lawrence is doing, I’d still be on the air. If
we were doing light-weight, fluffy
episodes like "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"
and “Family Matters” and “Living Single,”
the show would still be on television.
Unfortunately, nice guys and nice girls
finish last in television. That industry only
responds to power. I know all of those
people I just mentioned and I’ve seen what
they do on their shows,” Dutton said, his
voice becoming slightly shaky.
So, is there any hope for blacks in the
television industry?
“Where TV is concerned, when
someone from the television industry gives
me a satisfactory explanation why there
hasn't been a black drama after 9pm on
television that goes beyond six episodes
in 50 years of TV, then I will stop
complaining about it.”
Turning the subject to his popular
phrase: ‘From Jail to Yale,” Dutton delves
into the true struggle behind that statement.
“I started acting in prison. A girlfriend
of mine sent me a book of plays around
1972 and I had never read a play before at
the time. I dropped out of school in seventh
grade, 12 years old. I read this play in
prison called “Day of Absence,” a political
satire. As destiny would take it, it sort of
fit my consciousness as a human being at
the time because I was a communist,
socialist revolutionary who really
believed, at the time, that there was going
to be an armed overthrow of the
government and I couldn’t wait for it to
happen. I was going to be the first one on
the line—shooting or doing whatever
was necessary,” Dutton recounts with a
bit of contention in his voice.
After gathering fellow inmates together
to perform the play during talent night
because everyone else just “did imitations
of ‘The Temptations’ and ‘The Four
Tops,”’ Dutton was so impressed with
the response of the crowd, he knew acting
would be an intricate part of his life.
“It was a moment in the play, when
my character was speaking, that I looked
out in the audience and I saw that I had
these guys in the palm of my hands. I
actually felt this eerie kind of power. I
could make these guys laugh. I could
make them cry. I could make them quiet.
I could make them pensive, reflective. It
was at that moment, on the stage in the
penitentiary, that I had discovered what I
was bom to do.”
That same determination landed him a
spot in the prestigious drama department
at Yale University.
When asked if his success had any
effect on the other young men who started
acting with him in prison. Dutton
responds: “Unfortunately, out of the 10
or 11 guys, I’d say that probably three of
them are still living. They’re either dead
or back in the penitentiary.”
“/ feel if I were doing what
Martin Lawrence is
doing, I’d still be on the
air. If we were doing light
weight, fluffy episodes
like "Fresh Prince of Bel-
Air" and “Family
Matters” and “Living
Single, ”[Roc] would still
be on television.
Unfortunately, nice guys
and nice girls finish last
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