Cleavon Little Filmography

In the Nick of Time

Actors: Lloyd Bridges, Michael Tucker, Alison La Placa

Synopsis: When a North Pole bookkeeping boo-boo threatens to destroy the magic of Christmas, poor Santa is left with very little time in which to find a suitable replacement. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Separate But Equal

Actors: Richard Kiley, Burt Lancaster, Sidney Poitier

Synopsis: Based on the ground-breaking Brown vs. the Board of Education case, the made-for-television Separate But Equal follows a young Thurgood Marshall (Sidney Poitier) as a lawyer who argues the racially-charged lawsuit before the Supreme Court. When the black students of Clarendon County, South Read More

Goin' To Chicago

Actors: Cleavon Little, Viveca Lindfors, Gary Kroeger, Guy Killum

Synopsis: In this drama, independent filmmaker Paul Leder has brought to the screen the story of some young people enthusiastically campaigning for the (very liberal) presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy in the late 1960's. When it becomes clear that McCarthy cannot win, one of the young folks, who has Read More

Fletch Lives

Actors: Chevy Chase, Hal Holbrook, Julianne Phillips, Cleavon Little, R. Lee Ermey

Synopsis: Though the original Fletch was drubbed by critics, it proved a major success for star Chevy Chase. It was inevitable, then, that a sequel would make an appearance. Surprisingly, Fletch Lives didn't come out until 1989--a full five years after the original. Once more, Chase stars as Irwin Maurice Read More

Murder by Numbers

Actors: Sam Behrens, Shari Belafonte

Synopsis: When a wealthy homosexual man (Wlad Cembrowicz) turns up missing, his sister (Debra Sandlund) convinces her ex-husband (Sam Behrens) to investigate the legion of suspects. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide Read More

Gore Vidal's Lincoln

Synopsis: Originally telecast in two parts on March 27 and 28 of 1988, Lincoln was adapted from the bestselling "factual fiction" by Gore Vidal. Sam Waterston stars as Abraham Lincoln, with Mary Tyler Moore frighteningly convincing as the tragic Mary Todd Lincoln. Predictably, Part One of Lincoln deals with Read More

ALF: Alf's Special Christmas, Part 1

Synopsis: In the first half of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single hour-long episode), ALF is accidentally tossed into a box containing Christmas gifts. The box is delivered to a hospital, where ALF becomes the special present of a terminally ill little girl named Tiffany (Kerri Houlihan). Read More

ALF: Alf's Special Christmas, Part 2

Synopsis: In the conclusion of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single hour-long episode), ALF is mistaken for a Christmas present and delivered to a hospital. In his efforts to escape, he is trapped in an elevator with a woman (Molly Hagan) about to give birth. And to top it off, he saves a Read More

Once Bitten

Actors: Lauren Hutton, Jim Carrey, Karen Kopins, Cleavon Little, Thomas Ballatore

Synopsis: Best remembered for containing the film debut of phenomenally popular comedian of the early '90s, Jim Carrey, Once Bitten is a horror comedy that chronicles the attempts of a bloodthirsty female vampire living in modern day Los Angeles to find the three male virgins she needs every year to stay Read More

The Gig

Actors: Wayne Rogers, Cleavon Little, Joe Silver, Warren Vache, Daniel Nalbach

Synopsis: Every week, six men from various walks of life get together to play music for their own satisfaction. Trombonist Wayne Rogers is a used-car dealer; drummer Daniel Nalbach is a mother-dominated dentist; clarinetist Jerry Matz is a somewhat self-centered music teacher; trumpeter Warren Vache could Read More

Toy Soldiers

Actors: Jason Miller, Cleavon Little, Terri Garber, Rodolfo De Anda, Douglas Warhit

Synopsis: Seven wealthy college students are cruising off the coast of a nameless country in Central America that is going though a time of war and political upheaval. The kids have come to find adventure and to take a much- needed break from school when suddenly they are captured by soldiers and held for Read More

E. Nick: A Legend in His Own Mind

Surf 2

Actors: Eddie Deezen, Linda Kerridge, Cleavon Little, Peter Isacksen, Lyle Waggoner

Synopsis: In this adolescent adventure-comedy, an angry nerd tires of being teased by cruel surfers who play a dirty trick upon him and spike his soda pop with enough female hormones to make him grow miniature breasts. Menlo Schwartzer gets his revenge by spiking their favorite drink, Buzz Cola, with a Read More

Jimmy the Kid

Actors: Gary Coleman, Paul Le Mat, Dee Wallace, Don Adams, Walter Olkewicz

Synopsis: Gary Coleman stars as the title character, the bratty son of wealthy parents, who is kidnapped by a pair of bumbling crooks. The experience winds up teaching the pampered boy the realities of childhood. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Double Exposure

Synopsis: Double Exposure is a dull, predictable mystery thriller with a fine cast but hampered by a poor script and bad direction and production. A photographer (Michael Callan) begins to have a series of nightmares concerning bloody, gruesome murders. When those murders become reality, he is the prime Read More

High Risk

Actors: James Brolin, Cleavon Little, Bruce Davison, Chick Vennera, Anthony Quinn

Synopsis: Stewart Raffill directs the high-action comedy caper igh Risk about a four-man band of theives trying to pull off the perfect crime. Stone (James Brolin), Tony (Chick Venera), Dan (Bruce Davidson), and Rockney (Cleavon Little) hire two inept airplane pilots and plot a major heist. The plan is to Read More

The Color of Friendship

Actors: Chris Barnes, James Bond III, Mary Alice, Jill Andre, Terrance Ellis

Synopsis: This ABC Afterschool Special tackles the issue of racial harmony, which was still a "hot potato" on children's teleivision even as late as 1981. Chris Barnes is cast as David Bellinger, a white teenager who, like most of his schoolmates, is none too thrilled when a black student, Joel Garth (James Bond III Read More

The Salamander

Actors: Anthony Quinn, Martin Balsam, Sybil Danning

Synopsis: Dante Matucci (Franco Nero), a counter-intelligence officer, uncovers a fascist plot to overthrow the Italian government, and as he begins to investigate, he has an ally in Bruno Manzini (Anthony Quinn), a man dedicated to hunting down war criminals. Bruno and other operatives, including the Read More

Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige

Synopsis: This TV-movie biography of legendary black ballplayer Leroy "Satchel" Paige unfortunately whitewashes and hokes up his fascinating story. Louis Gossett Jr. stars as Paige, who spends virtually his entire professional career in the Negro leagues because of the "gentlemen's agreement" barring Read More

The Sky is Gray

Synopsis: Ernest J. Gaines' short story The Sky is Gray was adapted for television by Charles Fuller. James Bond III plays the son of black sharecropper Olivia Cole in this haunting period piece. Young Bond takes a trip to the city with his mother, where he experiences at close quarters the hatred and Read More

Scavenger Hunt

Actors: Richard Benjamin, James Coco, Scatman Crothers, Cloris Leachman, Cleavon Little

Synopsis: When millionaire Vincent Price dies, he leaves a riotous will which amounts to a scavenger hunt, the winner of which receives the entire willed fortune. So 15 potential heirs are sent on a zany quest where they must outrace and outsmart one another to inherit the big bucks. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

FM

Actors: Michael Brandon, Eileen Brennan, Alex Karras, Cleavon Little, Martin Mull

Synopsis: When a radio station's management announces that there's going to be an upswing in commercials on the air, with a strong emphasis on ads for the U.S. Army, the anti-establishment deejays form a united front against the "suits." With station manager Jeff Dugan's (Michael Brandon) unofficial Read More

The Rockford Files: Sticks and Stones May Break Your Bones, But Waterbury Will Bury You

Synopsis: When three of his fellow private eyes lose their licenses, Jim (James Garner) risks his own to help them. It turns out that the P.I.'s have been victimized by a "mystery woman" (Katherine Charles) working for a huge detective agency which is determined to eliminate all competition--even if means Read More

Greased Lightning

Actors: Richard Pryor, Beau Bridges, Pam Grier, Cleavon Little, Vincent Gardenia

Synopsis: Based on the life story of NASCAR auto racing champion Wendell Scott, this film, starring Richard Pryor as Scott, covers his struggles -- from the end of World War II to 1971-- to overcome racism and gain the freedom to demonstrate his winning auto-racing skills to everyone. He is not without Read More

Once Upon a Brothers Grimm

Synopsis: In this musical fantasy, the Brothers Grimm, accompanied by some of their most famous creations, wander through a magical forest. Characters appearing include Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rumpelstiltskin. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Waltons: The Fighter

Synopsis: Fresh from his triumphant movie appearance in Blazing Saddles, Cleavon Little guest stars as James Travis Clark, the Waltons' new hired man. Upon learning that James is a prizefighter, Olivia (Michael Learned) and Grandma (Ellen Corby) strongly express their disapproval--until they find out that Read More

The Day the Earth Moved

Actors: Cleavon Little

Synopsis: Jackie Cooper and Cleavon Little star as aerial photographers who spot a few threatening cracks in the San Andreas fault. Will anyone listen? No. Do they suffer in the subsequent quake? Yes, but not as expensively as the all-star cast in Earthquake. Still, The Day the Earth Moved doesn't aspire to Read More

Blazing Saddles

Actors: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, David Huddleston, Mel Brooks, Alex Karras, Madeline Kahn

Synopsis: Vulgar, crude, and occasionally scandalous in its racial humor, this hilarious bad-taste spoof of Westerns, co-written by Richard Pryor, features Cleavon Little as the first black sheriff of a stunned town scheduled for demolition by an encroaching railroad. Little and co-star Gene Wilder have Read More

Money to Burn

Synopsis: The flammable money of the title is of the counterfeit variety. Enterprising prison inmate E. G. Marshall devises a scheme to churn out phony moola in his jerry-built printing machine. Conspiring with his wife Mildred Natwick, Marshall intends to smuggle the funny money out of jail, then swap it Read More

All in the Family: Edith Writes a Song

Actors: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, Cleavon Little

Synopsis: Archie's insistence upon purchasing a gun to protect his household backfires when a couple of burglars named Coke and Horace break into the Bunker household. Keeping Archie at bay with his own gun, the two thieves reveal a lot about themselves -- and, in the course of the evening, genially Read More

The Homecoming

Actors: Patricia Neal

Synopsis: This made-for-TV drama, based on the book by Earl Hamner Jr., was the basis for the popular long-running television series The Waltons. In this opening installment, the Waltons, led by matriarch Olivia Walton (Patricia Neal), spend an anxious 1933 Christmas Eve together as they await the arrival Read More

Vanishing Point

Actors: Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Valerie Kairys, Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, Charlotte Rampling, Dean Jagger, Victoria Medlin

Synopsis: Richard Sarafian directed this minimalist chase film, starring Barry Newman as ex-marine, ex-race car driver and cop named Kowalski. He drives into Denver to deliver a car and pick up another vehicle to drive to San Francisco. To make the fifteen-hour drive to San Francisco bearable he pops a load Read More

Cotton Comes to Harlem

Actors: Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, Calvin Lockhart, Judy Pace, Redd Foxx

Synopsis: Ossie Davis makes his directorial debut a smashing success in the trend-setting action crime comedy Cotton Comes To Harlem. Coffin Ed (Raymond St. Jacques) and Grave Digger Jones (Godfrey Cambridge), two plainclothesmen on the Harlem detail, are assigned to investigate the goings-on of suspicious Read More

John and Mary

Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Mia Farrow, Michael Tolan, Sunny Griffin, Stanley Beck

Synopsis: John and Mary attracted a great deal of press coverage in 1969 for being the one of the first American films in which the male and female leads (Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow) start out the film by spending the night together, rather than holding off until the end. The morning after, the boy and Read More

What's So Bad About Feeling Good?

Actors: George Peppard, Mary Tyler Moore, Dom DeLuise, John McMartin, Nathaniel Frey

Synopsis: In this comedy, New York City undergoes a dramatic change when a toucan carrying a strange virus is smuggled through customs. In those it infects, the virus causes an intense euphoria and a desire to do good. The first man to receive the infected bird is a misanthropic, cynical artist who lives in Read More

The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery

Actors: Steve McQueen, David Clarke, Graham Denton, Molly McCarthy, James Dukas

Synopsis: Based on an actual bank heist (and even using the St. Louis policemen who took part in thwarting the original robbery), this fairly ho-hum caper film stars Steve McQueen as the driver of the getaway car for the four bank robbers. The four men go over their plan several times, including dry runs to Read More