The previous film, once declared a disaster, served as a cautionary tale for the new animated hitand has even been reclaimed by some as a cult classic. He went on to reprise the role many times in a variety of media. My absolute favorite episode of my five and a half years with that show was the Gladys Knight episode where I got to be a Pip. Im going to make something happen with this opportunity, I really am. Hardison: We were friends at first. He did such a great job in the latter role that the character's spin-off series, "Benson," ended up running much longer than its parent show. Casting Rosalind Cash in the role provided Hughes with all the required credibility, and more. Kadeem went in first and you could hear the laughing outside in the hallway while the rest of us were waiting. It was easy to let go of that relationship, let me just say that. Bell: I think there were three of us, maybe four, that went to network for the part of Dwayne Wayne. There was a great affinity for the show. And then, I think it was Debbie and Joe who said, This needs to be The Graduate. Allen: I had been asked to work on Family Ties, but then I got this call from Bill and he said, You know we need you to come and get out your broom; clean it up and bring reality to it. So thats what I did. Fales-Hill: It was in our second season with Debbie as our director and executive producer that we really started to find our own voice. The cause of death was cancer. Kristoff St. John first appeared asDavid James on an episode of "The Cosby Show." Guy: I felt like Lisa was diminished in her ability to look natural. I made that choice. The network thought that was part of his image and they were very reluctant to change it. We just hadnt seen that. Meg Ryan was initially cast as Maggie but decided to pursue her film career; Marisa Tomei took her place. And what people never saw was how funny everybody was. Fales-Hill: There were a lot of Black performers, especially of a certain generation, who wanted to be on the show because they loved what it was saying and what it was doing. I just didnt know it was a thing. Its remarkable to know that you can still have that kind of effect on someone 30-plus years after the fact. She had an extensive stage career, and was one of theNEC's original members. Regina Hicks was a PA on A Different World. And he said, Thats a messed up question to ask you. I said, Yeah, it is. Moving on. One take. Were always being told what we are and what were allowed to be, and on A Different World, we just were. Guy: [Kadeem and I] were like, Are we coming back next season? Because people were getting fired a lot. But I came back in a few days with Hangin With Mr. Cooper. My name being Lena, and me having a father that was sort of in and out of my life and had demons himself, it was such a reflection. She would go on to create some of the shows most recognizable looks, from Freddies texture-heavy boho ensembles to Whitleys polished suits. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Later it came to focus on the trials and tribulations of the infamous Dwayne Wayne, Whitley Gilbert, Freddie, Ron and Jaleesa. Throughout her lengthy career, Cash was very careful about the roles she accepted. Im not really one to suffer fools, so I became more determined to create my own work environment. [It examines] the relationship between Black fathers and their daughters, and how sometimes Black fathers have demons that unfortunately, their children have to deal with. Bumper Robinson (Dorian Heywood): I was graduating high school at the time, so I was actually a legit freshman coming into college. Born in Indianola, Mississippi, she got into acting in her community at a young age, but briefly took a break from the business to be an elementary school teacher in Chicago. "We were saying to the country, 'We're going to present a very upper middle-class black woman raising her child, and her major concentration is not going to be about suffering in the ghetto,'" Carroll said, regarding the role's significance. You cant get there without melet me know how long I need to hang out.. He didnt have a drivers license, so I would have to take him in to work every dayto the job I auditioned for and didnt get. She had married Lenny Kravitz and you knowI guess Bill had his . While A Different World finished its first season rated number two behind The Cosby Show, the writers and cast believed that the story lines lacked the depth and relevance needed to accurately portray student life at an HBCU. "Outside New York, people assumed I really was a hustler," O'Neal said in 1979. His performance as the flashy Youngblood Priest made him a major name, but as O'Neal himself admitted, this was somewhat detrimental to further career opportunities (via The Guardian). Guy: We had so much fun off-camera that I only remember episodes based on what was going on in our lives during that time. Bowser shares this over Zoom from her home office in Los Angeles as one of more than a dozen cast and crew talking about their days on A Different World. No. Guy: That year NBC changed our time slot and put us up against Martin. The show's theme song makes it clear that it's radically different from the program that focuses on the affable Huxtable family: "It's a different world/Than where ya come from/Yes it is now," promise the lyrics. After years of achievement, Guillaume died of prostate cancer on October 24, 2017, at the age of 89. She was so effusive and welcoming. She had auditioned for the role of Jaleesa during the first round of casting and was called back when the show decided to add more characters. "A Different World" features a great many actors, plenty of whom are still working in the industry. Robyn Griggs, 'Another World' Actress, Dies at 49 She appeared on Nickelodeon before landing a recurring role as a teen on 'One Life to Live.' By Ryan Gajewski August 13, 2022 11:09pm Robyn. If youre driving down the street, are there any posters for our show? We were having a read-through at my home when it was announced that Magic Johnson had HIV. He was like, You heard about this Cosby spinoff audition? I was like, Yeah, I just went in. He was like, I just went in. I was like, Oh, for who? Dwayne Wayne. And I was like, You went in for Dwayne Wayne? Learn from this special teaching by Pastor Chris how to use the name of Jesus to effect changes in your life, city and world Theres a picture of myself, Kadeem, Eddie Murphy, and Magic Johnson at a party that was in People magazine. Every once in a while, "A Different World" brought in a face you either knew from a very different sitcom, or would go on to become familiar with on a similar show. He had a good heart. Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now. Bowser: I love watching [Dwayne and Whitley] go from being awkward teenagers to more mature Black people in love. The 92-year old icon died on May 9, 2010 in New York City (per The New York Times). Ill let the powers that betheyll live with that. The same people who casted the play were casting A Different World. After Bonet's departure following Season 1, the connection between "A Different World"and "The Cosby Show" became more and more tenuous. Even more notably, he was a highly-lauded stage actor who took home a Tony Award for his Broadway portrayal of the Cowardly Lion in "The Wiz" (per Playbill). Lewis: We kept parts of the episodes that we had already shot and then shot new scenes that had got melded in so that the whole cast would appear from the very first episode. James Avery, who was basically sitcom royalty, is one of these names, his most famous role being Philip "Uncle Phil" Banks on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Both of you. I said, Wait. You can see Ron breaking down in tears. Date rape had just been defined in the culture; we had just named it. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. With the success of the show came a level of fame that, while moderate in comparison to the visibility of young actors in todays more diverse, social mediafueled industry, was an adjustment for the cast. Then Cree was like, I know where you need to live, and she brought me up to Topanga Canyon. WHAT DO I HAVE TO LOSE? She was seven years old and she didnt tell her parents. We were devastated. 16 and Pregnant 's Valerie Fairman was one of several MTV reality show stars who died young. Summer: It wasnt really like the Beatles or anything. Six years is a nice, good run [but] I didnt like how it ended. It was all because of her popularity that Mr. Cosby had the idea to do this spinoff. Alice, who retired from acting in 2005, was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2000. Summer: I still dont like Freddie going with Ron. Carroll's breakthrough small-screen role was the titular character on the 1968 NBC sitcom "Julia." Fales-Hill: Im not somebody who beats her chest about oppression, but when you see the way certain white shows at the same time frame were assessed versus the way we were assessed, it had everything to do with color. Emmy and Tony-winning actress Mary Alice best known for her role as Lettie Bostic in the 1980s sitcom "A Different World" has died. By season six, Freddie, Dwayne, Kimberly, Ron, and Whitley had all graduated from Hillman, and a new group of students joined the cast in main and recurring roles. Neither Hardison or Guy thought the Graduate*esque story was a good idea. Thats what set me on the path to create Living Single. If youre running a network, you dont get credit for the shows you didnt develop. His grand gesture of interrupting the wedding stayed in the script, though. I felt like we had top-notch people in that regime. Susan Fales-Hill hired Yvette Lee Bowser, who would then go on to create Living Single. Patti LaBelleGladys KnightRon ONealBlair Underwood. Under Allens leadership, A Different World remained comedic, but no topic was off-limits. During one scene in particular, he was struggling. Loretta Devine played dorm director Stevie Rallen. She was my first boss on Girlfriends; she was showrunning. Another Season 6 guest star, Chris Kelly of '90s rap duo Kris Kross, died on May 1, 2013, at the age of 34 (via CNN). ". In 1992, she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Ill Fly Away., Her other movie credits include Malcolm X, The Inkwell, Down in the Delta, Beat Street, To Sleep With Anger, Awakenings, The Bonfire of the Vanities and Sunshine State.. Bell: When Debbie came on board, after every rehearsal wed have a note session with the writers and producers, and we could talk to them about what we liked and didnt like. Over the years audiences watched them struggle with schoolwork, form meaningful friendships, fall in and out of love, and grow from capricious teens to responsible young adults. That was sort of a clue [that my character wasnt coming back]. Sinbad: I was doing a tour with Luther Vandross and Anita Baker, I was hosting Showtime at the Apollo, and I was doing A Different World. He was a good guy. And it was very hurtful to my entire companythe cast, the writers, the producers, the cameramen. Bell: I met Tempestt four or five times before she ever remembered meeting me once. You cant go. I was like, Yeah, but I really want to make this move. There were two weeks left in pilot season and they said, If you come back with another contract, well let you go. I dont think they expected me to actually come back with a contract, because again, there were only two weeks left of pilot season. Things About Them 24K views 7 months ago 30 BLACK CELEBS YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW WERE RELATED THE VAULT : HIPHOPURBANPOP 2 2.3M views 2 years ago THE. John Whitesell. After months of ill health and a bout of pneumonia, Myers died in February 2013 at the age of 77 (via TMZ). I asked if I could audition and they told me no for about three months, saying, We love what youre doing in the Broadway show, just keep singing and dancing. The tour ended and I had one more unemployment check left. So theres no upside to propping up A Different World to continue to be successful, when you have to to point to the value of your stewardship of the network, with the new shows that you brought to bear. Shakur's murder remains unsolved. Originally, A Different World was conceived as show about a white girl's experience attending an HBCU. Fales-Hill: We were really a family, with all that that implies. Among the most memorable episodes were two consecutive shows that culminated with Whitley and Dwayne getting married, during what was initially Whitleys wedding to Byron Douglas III, played by Joe Morton. I will! We kept going with the scene and Debbie said, Got it. However, his role on the show ended up being somewhat smaller than these early appearances might suggest. Hardison: Two weeks after I went to the taping, I got a call that they were auditioning people for extra characters. Freddie was wearing oxblood Doc Martens laced up to the kneeFishbone T-shirts, Frank Zappa T-shirts. Pitting them against one another, you dont have to do much. In films, she appeared in Malcolm X, The Inkwell, Down in the Delta, Beat Street, To Sleep With Anger, Awakenings, The Bonfire of the Vanities and Sunshine State, among many others. You need to really honor that.. Four years later in 1988, he returned to its universe as E.Z. Despite consistently high ratingsoften landing at number two behind The Cosby Show *and sometimes surpassing it for number one*A Different World was never nominated for a Golden Globe. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. I had never seen grown men weep like that. Turman: Heres how influential Colonel Taylor was. The seminal Cosby Show spinoff was developed by Bill Cosbyan indelible fact. THATS WHEN I CAME UP WITH THE ACCENT FOR WHITLEY.. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. Can you come in tomorrow? Allen: We birthed Jenifer Lewis on A Different World. Its an adjustment, and one that I wasnt really seeking. Bell: My character was talking to Whitley and he had to turn to her and say, I knew it could be done. When it came time for me to say it, I tried to stretch that line out as long as I could. I REMEMBER KADEEM [HARDISON] WALKED BY AND I THOUGHT, OH, GOD, HE IS SO FUCKING FINE., Summer: Kadeem was such a great boyfriend. They were like, Okay, my man, do you want to shorten that up?, Bowser: It wasnt the best line reading, but we loved him and were like, Weve got to find something for Darryl to do.. I think that was a real benefitto be able to emotionally infuse the characters with what we were going through together. I remember that week, I spent all my time with Liz. Darryl M. Bell (Ron Johnson) Darryl M. Bell played goofy musician and ROTC student Ron Johnson for all six seasons of the show. Shortly after, Bowser joined the team. She was someone that I had known from New York. The change was night and day. It was retooled, making Denise Huxtable the lead and her best friend Maggie Lauten the. Hardison: When I found out that they were going to put Dwayne and Whitley together, I was shockedbut I liked it because I knew what a beast [Jasmine] was at work. And then slowly but surely, we were having less fun and more dates, and all the great story lines were going to the other characters. Not only in my life, but for others. Soon after, Bell accepted an offer to be Keshia Knight Pulliams stand-in for an episode she was appearing in. We all grew up together. She really found that activism voice, which was something that was very reflective of my personal life. Though some advocated for the pregnancy to be written into the showa scenario that many young women could relate toits been widely reported that Cosby and others disagreed. With Diahann Carroll playing Whitley Gilbert's mother, "A Different World"was practically required to cast a force to be reckoned with as her father, Mercer Gilbert. Ceci: Everybody thinks that I was shopping on Rodeo Drive, but I didnt have that kind of budget. Meeting me once show ended up being somewhat smaller than these early appearances suggest!, we May earn an affiliate commission everybody was four, that to... Fales-Hill: we birthed Jenifer Lewis on a Different World, we just were remembered! Was how funny everybody was Yeah, but I didnt have that kind of effect on someone years. An extensive stage career, Cash was very hurtful to my entire companythe,. Your California Privacy Rights youre driving down the street, are we coming back ] to. 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