COMIC BILL COSBY MAY TAKE ROLE IN RACIAL BREAKTHROUGH ON NBC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000400480012-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 1, 1999
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: August 18, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-R
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
INQUIRER
in. 603,438
S. 983,643
Front Edit 0thw
pa'as Pau* Now
-9
i
AUG 18 1964
Date:
be produced way, opine( , its not being fan to she people kilo
by S h e I d o n could be the same old junk,,: OES he fear that the deal have come, to me for laughter..
T.Pnnard whn'c,like Rochester on Jack Benny's may fall through because oft "The whole question about
d' :MIay T E
a NBC
By HARRY HARRIS
Of Tlic Inquirer Staff
u
u
P iILADELPHIA comedian.13i1l " ' '
Cosby may be involved in d` nib:
writers' delineation of his owns "I. turned down three movie
TV's most Significant integra-
I had to tell him I don't 'nave
anvthin! on that or on the r icial
role. !parts because they were writ-happened in my neighbor zoodi
tion breakthrough,
He's slated to costar with According to early reports,ten ONLY for a Negro. when I was growing up, whichf
Robert Culp, formerly ofiCulp is supposed to masquerade "I see the series as a chaI-I imagine is the same proh en1.,
"Trackdown," in an hour-long the series as a roving "ten- lenge. I'd like to see it happen, "But I don't lecture. When myl
adventure series N13C plans to}nis bunt," while Cosby pretendsihut I'm not excited about it.~font hits the stage, I'm a comic,f
to be his valet, butler or "m~an~ I'd like to know when I start; perio
air You know
air in 1965.66. d. if .1 say, '
Still untitled, the show willlht,iajy" 811 I work. THEN I'll get excited." what happened today?" I'm .1 14 y I
DannyThomas
in such popu-
lar projects as
"The Dick Van
Dyke Show,"
"The Andy
S 0 FAR, no contracts have "One thing I like is that the
been signed. Cosby is wait-role didn't originally call for a
uate. Southern affiliates might rcfuse+Orientals," said Cosby. The;'re,
may he more a manager- to accept. a Negro hero? more acceptable. But they h.+ve
trainer. (1.,_ thing's sure,
it "I don't know if thcrc'fl be
+to decide whether they're ,O ng~
won't be ME
playing tennis." !Southern resistance," he said.
is there any danger that his 9l to just stop there or go 5trai;ht"
assignment will turn out to be.i There might be. But I don't,ahead."
Griffith Show"holes" civil rights groups have
and "The Bill been protesting?
Dana Show." "f don't know," Bill said.
Cosby won't "That's why I've be just a "rcg-' y got to see a
script first. But Sheldon Leonard
ular," some-'called the NAACP
d
th
an
o
ers
times barely glimpsed, as was and told them what he had in
the case with Cicely Tyson in;d
last season's "East Side/West
"Sheldon and his associates
are very respectable, responsi-
IIe'll be an integral part of,
,.ble men and ever
thi
th
'
y
ng
ey
ve
every episode, as one of two! , put out has been in good taste.
(,I,\ undercover agents abroad.! I remember one 'Dick Van Dyke
is call for filming the series, ',I , -n which Negro actors
hi l,os Angeles, with frequentZ low were used very well.
`Iocation" treks to places likek "I don't know if my doing
Iiou; DDong, site of the proposed! this part would represent a
pilr,;, Tokyo, Athens and Rome. j
although Bill brea.thrpugh on TV, but it
presumes he'll
be contributing "comic relit," 'would through' for certainly be a break-
me. If. I do well,
the cnnracter he portrays will ;there maybe more interesting
he a bright, courageous college iacting jobs.,.,
graduate. . .
think that's the problem as; Although he has emph;~.ic
much as what to do with melviews on the civil rights str g-,
IN the series. tile Bill excludes strictly-ru ial
"White backlash; black back-quips from his TV and ni.;ht
lash, any kind of backlash won'tlclub comedy routines.
have any real effect unless
EVERYONE turns off his set.
Television is paying lip service
to integration next season, we
noted, by casting a number of
Orientals-but nary a- Negro-
"It's.gasier to save face with
"Sometimes I'm asked to
make topical comments, ,tot.
only racial ones. A newsma,:a-l
zing, guy called me and akedl
if I had any Goldwater jokes.;
Contlnn`A(l
Sanitized : Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149ROO0400480012-6