Ray Charles Filmography

Willie Nelson and Friends: Live and Kickin'

Synopsis: The man they call "The Red-Headed Stranger", Willie Nelson performs his several songs along with an eclectic lineup of musical guests in this concert release from Universal Music. Willie Nelson and Friends: Live and Kickin' features "Homeward Bound" with Paul Simon, "Me and Bobby McGee" with Read More

Ray

Crew: Featured Music, Songwriter

Actors: Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King, Clifton Powell, Aunjanue Ellis, Curtis Armstrong

Synopsis: Directed by Taylor Hackford, this biopic profiles the life of legendary musician Ray Charles. Despite humble beginnings and the loss of his eyesight due to glaucoma at the age of six, Charles, depicted by Jamie Foxx, would nonetheless become an icon in both the music industry and the civil rights Read More

Tom Dowd and the Language of Music

Actors: Tom Dowd, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Allman Brothers, Les Paul

Synopsis: Independent filmmaker Mark Moormann directs the feature-length documentary Tom Dowd and the Language of Music. Shot on color and black-and-white16 mm film stock, the biography is a personal portrait of legendary recording engineer and producer Tom Dowd. The man himself is featured in a series of Read More

The Blues: Piano Blues

Actors: Marcia Ball, Pinetop Perkins, Dave Brubeck, Jay McShann, Ray Charles

Synopsis: Part of The Blues documentary film series on PBS, Piano Blues is directed by actor, filmmaker, and pianist Clint Eastwood. This installment explores the director's fascination with piano blues and jazz, starting with Fats Waller and the early stride piano sound. The sound evolved into Read More

Ray Charles Celebrates a Gospel Christmas With the Voices of Jubilation

Actors: Ray Charles

Synopsis: In the early '50s, Ray Charles took the fiery passion of gospel and the hard-hitting sound of the blues, and by putting them together he created a whole new sound in rhythm & blues that helped make him a legend in American music. Nearly half a century later, Charles revisits his gospel roots in Read More

Willie Nelson: Still is Still Moving

Actors: Willie Nelson

Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Musical Movie

Synopsis: Blue the Dog (from the popular children's TV series Blue's Clues) stars in her first full-length musical adventure. Blue (voice of Traci Paige Johnson) and her master Steve (voice of Steve Burns) are putting on a show in their backyard, but suddenly Tickety Tock the Clock (voice of Kelly Nigh) Read More

Ray Charles: In Concert

Actors: Ray Charles

Synopsis: Ray Charles in Concert features the Grammy-winning living legend in a charity concert for the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind. Viewers are treated to 16 selections from Charles' works, including a pair of duets with Grammy-winning jazz performer Dianne Schuur. The audience is treated to renditions Read More

Ray Charles: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival

Synopsis: A towering figure in American music, Ray Charles has been blending blues, gospel, country, jazz, and pop sounds into a distinctive and soulful mixture all his own for more than five decades, and this video captures Charles, his band, and the Raelettes on-stage during a stellar performance at the Read More

Spy Hard

Actors: Leslie Nielsen, Nicollette Sheridan, Charles Durning, Marcia Gay Harden, Barry Bostwick

Synopsis: The first of several sight gag and slapstick-rich comedies he produced without the team of Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, this lowbrow comedy from executive producer and star Leslie Nielsen suffers by comparison to his work with the "ZAZ" team. Nielsen plays Dick Steele, secret Read More

Love Affair

Actors: Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Katharine Hepburn, Garry Shandling, Chloe Webb

Synopsis: The 1939 Irene Dunne-Charles Boyer romance Love Affair, remade with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in 1957 as An Affair to Remember, became a vehicle for real-life couple Warren Beatty and Annette Bening in this 1994 rendition. The well-worn story remains the same, as a man and a woman, both engaged Read More

Wings: A Decent Proposal

Synopsis: Down in the dumps after Alex (Farrah Forke) has walked out on him, Brian (Steven Weber) receives unexpected romantic advice from singer Ray Charles. Meanwhile, Helen (Crystal Bernard) worries that Davis' (Mark Harelik) uncharacteristic mid-week visit to Nantucket is the prelude to a breakup; and Read More

Ray Charles: The Genius of Soul

Willie Nelson: The Big Six-0 - An All-Star Birthday Celebration

Synopsis: For his 60th birthday, country legend Willie Nelson decided to throw a party and invite a few of his closest friends to help him celebrate. Among others appearing are Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Neil Young, B.B. King, Paul Simon, and Waylon Jennings -- most joining Nelson on stage for Read More

Carnegie Hall at 100: A Place of Dreams

Synopsis: Everyone in New York City knows that for over a century the definitive venue for classical and popular music has been Carnegie Hall. The so-called "temple of high art," Carnegie Hall's warm acoustics have drawn some of the most popular acts in music history. Now viewers at home can hear the whole Read More

Ray Charles: America the Beautiful - The Video Single

Lennon: A Tribute

Synopsis: This is a celebration of the music of a generation's talented songwriter and performer John Lennon. This musical salute mixes footage of Lennon the solo artist with the Lennon as a member of the legendary the Beatles, a man who helped reshaped pop music and changed a culture. Many artists cover 22 Read More

Ray Charles: Live - A Romantic Evening

Listen Up!: The Lives of Quincy Jones

Actors: Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis

Synopsis: The extraordinary life of Quincy Jones -- one of the 20th century's most influential and talented composers, musicians and music producers -- provides the basis of this offbeat, free-form documentary tribute. With little regard for formal timelines and traditional documentary biography methods Read More

Limit Up

Actors: Nancy Allen

Synopsis: In this Faustian tale, a Chicago Grain Exchange employee (Nancy Allen) signs a pact with the Devil in order to get a leg up in soybean futures. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Legends of Rock 'N' Roll Live

Synopsis: This concert video features all the household names of rock & roll gathered together for a special live performance. These are the founding fathers: James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Little Richard playing their classic tunes. ~ Sarah Welsh, All Read More

The Legends of Rock & Roll

Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul

Percy Mayfield: Poet Laureate of the Blues

Fats Domino & Friends: Immortal Keyboards of Rock & Roll

Synopsis: A music performance video, with Fats Domino joined by Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ron Wood and Paul Schaffer. Recorded at the Storyville Club in New Orleans. Performances include "Blueberry Hill," "Walking to New Orleans," and "The Fat Man." ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Moonlighting: A Trip to the Moon

Synopsis: As Moonlighting begins its fourth season, detectives David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) wonder if they should continue their romance after their memorable boudoir tussle in the closing moments of Season Three. As the couple weighs their options, three fantasy sequences play Read More

We Are the World: The Video Event

The Willie Nelson Special: With Special Guest Ray Charles

Actors: Willie Nelson

Synopsis: Willie Nelson and Ray Charles team up together for the first time at the Austin Opera House to perform such classics as "Georgia on My Mind," "Seven Spanish Angels," and "On the Road Again." ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Octopussy

Actors: Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan, Kristina Wayborn, Kabir Bedi

Synopsis: This (13th) time around, "007" receives the usual call to come and visit "Mother" when another agent drops off a fake Faberge jeweled egg at the British embassy in East Berlin and is later killed at a traveling circus. Suspicions mount when the assistant manager of the circus Kamal (Louis Read More

Quincy Jones: A Celebration

Hallelujah Gospel

Synopsis: The concert video Hallelujah Gospel features performances of over a dozen songs by a variety of performers including Ray Charles, Andrae Crouch, Deniece Williams, and Glen Campbell. The setlist includes "Coming Home," "I Believe in Miracles," "God Is Amazing," and "A Few Good Men." ~ Perry Read More

Coming Home: An Evening of Gospel

Actors: Glen Campbell, Andrae Crouch, Deniece Williams, The Hawkins Family, The Imperials

Synopsis: Hosted by Glen Campbell, Coming Home: An Evening of Gospel features performances by such respected performers as Deniece Williams, Andrae Crouch, and The Hawkins Family as well as the beloved Ray Charles. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide Read More

An Evening with Ray Charles

Synopsis: Each installment of An Evening With presents a performer, band, group, or other public figure in a setting aimed to please fans looking for a representative sampling of what a particular person or group of people does best. In this installment, composer and singer Ray Charles brings his genius to Read More

Ray Charles: In Concert With the Edmonton Symphony

Actors: Ray Charles

Synopsis: Ray Charles may be gone forever, but his musical legacy lives on thanks to a healthy catalogue of timeless music and live performances -- like this one, which features the legendary pianist playing alongside the Edmonton Symphony. Filmed in 1981 and featuring stunning renditions of such songs as Read More

The Blues Brothers

Actors: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, John Candy, Ray Charles, Carrie Fisher

Synopsis: Expanding on their Saturday Night Live characters, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd star as Jake and Elwood Blues, two white boys with black soul. Sporting cool shades and look-alike suits, Jake and Elwood are dispatched on a "mission from God" by their former teacher, Sister Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman Read More

Gladys Knight and the Pips and Ray Charles in Concert

Synopsis: Concert performance of Gladys Knight and the Pips, joined by Ray Charles, with songs including "Imagination," and "Midnight Train to Georgia." ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Saturday Night Live: Ray Charles

Actors: Ray Charles

Synopsis: This 1975 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Ray Charles, who not only performs in sketches but also sings a couple of songs. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

Ray Charles: Soul of the Holy Land August 1973

Actors: Ray Charles

Synopsis: The concert film Ray Charles: Soul of the Holy Land August 1973 documents the legendary performer's historic Tel Aviv concert and includes footage of him visiting some of the most renowned religious sites in the world. The 17-song set list includes many beloved hits including a cover of the Beatles Read More

Black Rodeo

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Woody Strode

Synopsis: This strange, disjointed feature film boasts a performance by Muhammed Ali as himself, clowning his way around a Black rodeo held near Harlem at Randall's Island, NY. Among the features of this film is an extended discussion by actor Woody Strode on the long-suppressed history of the Black Cowboy. Read More

Beware of a Holy Whore

Crew: Featured Music

Actors: Lou Castel, Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Synopsis: This film by wunderkind Rainer Werner Fassbinder, his 10th, is one of the rare films about filmmaking which was said by the critics to have succeeded both technically and as drama. In it, a German film crew sits in their Italian hotel, waiting for the arrival of their director (Lou Castel), their Read More

In the Heat of the Night

Crew: Singer

Actors: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, James Patterson, Scott Wilson

Synopsis: The winner of the 1967 Oscar for Best Picture (as well as four other Oscars), In the Heat of the Night is set in a small Mississippi town where an unusual murder has been committed. Rod Steiger plays sheriff Bill Gillespie, a good lawman despite his racial prejudices. When Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier Read More

The Big T.N.T. Show

Actors: Roger Miller, Joan Baez

Synopsis: Future Goodbye Columbus director Larry Peerce was still only a few years out of the University of North Carolina when he directed The Big T.N.T. Show. This sequel to 1964's The T.A.M.I. Show is, like its predecessor, little more than a concert film, but a well photographed one (originally on Read More

Blues for Lovers

Actors: Ray Charles, Tom Bell, Mary Peach, Dawn Addams, Piers Bishop, Monika Henreid

Synopsis: Originally titled Blues For Lovers, Ballad in Blue was the last of actor Paul Henreid's theatrical-film directorial efforts. R&B legend Ray Charles plays himself, attempting to help a newly blinded British boy adjust to sightlessness. Charles is no actor, but he has a natural ease and grace that Read More

That Was Rock

Synopsis: This rollicking music film is a compilation of two previous films from the mid-1960s, The T.A.M.I. Show and The Big T.N.T. Show. Chuck Berry hosts the acts which include some of the greatest R&B acts and rock & roll acts of that generation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Ray Charles: O Genio - Live in Brazil

Synopsis: In 1963, just before he turned 33 years old, Ray Charles brought his band to Sao Paulo, Brazil, for a special show which was filmed for a television special. Forty-one years later, Rhino Home Video discovered the rare footage of the Brazilian concert, which had never been shown in the United Read More

Swingin' Along

Actors: Tommy Noonan, Peter Marshall, Barbara Eden, Connie Gilchrist, Carol Christensen

Synopsis: Bungling courier Freddie Merkel (Tommy Noonan) dreams of creative success but always manages to botch things up at crucial moments. Shortly after destroying his motorcycle, he decides to become a songwriter. This gives con man Duke (Peter Marshall) the perfect opportunity for his latest scam, one Read More

Ray Charles: Live at Montreux 1997

Glen Campbell: Good Times Again

Synopsis: As its title suggests, the release Glen Campbell: Good Times Again actually culls and presents, in a single collection, an hour of the best performances from the now legendary musical variety series Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, which ran on CBS from January 1969 through June 1972. The 11 musical Read More

Gladys Knight and Ray Charles: Live at the Greek Theatre - Together

Actors: Ray Charles, Gladys Knight