During the height of the riots, he issued a public statement in an attempt to quell the violence, plaintively asking, “Can we all get along?” Smith developed the show shortly after learning of his death. 2 days ago &0183 &32 LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 27: (L-R) Roger Guenveur Smith and Spike Lee. King died in 2012 from drowning after struggling with alcoholism and drug abuse. There were attempts to make him kind of a spokesperson. He was certainly not prepared for international notoriety. “But actually, he was a full-blown human being who, just like all of us, had good parts, and not-so-good parts. Actor, writer and director Roger Guenveur Smith was the well-respected and award-winning creator of such acclaimed one-man shows as 'A Huey P. “Rodney King is known primarily as a human piñata, the symbol of police brutality,” he said. Smith, who describes King as “the first reality TV star,” recently presented the final performances of the stage play in Portland, where he told the Oregonian that the production is all about revealing the man behind the myth. The jury’s decision sparked charges of racism and touched off six days of violent rioting in Los Angeles. And one of the producers is Oakland’s Steven Adams.ĭirected by Spike Lee, the film is timed to the 25th anniversary of when a Simi Valley jury acquitted four white Los Angeles Police Department officers who were videotaped beating King, a black man, in 1991. “Rodney King,” a one-man show arriving Friday on Netflix, aims to humanize its famous subject, inviting viewers to “Go beyond the myth and the mayhem.” Steven AdamsĪ pair of Bay Area natives played instrumental roles on the project: Its star, Berkeley-born actor Roger Guenveur Smith, has been performing “Rodney King” live in theaters across the country since 2012.
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