Eric Monte
Birthday: 25 December 1943, USA
Birth Name: Kenneth Williams
Eric Monte known as the playwright behind such legendary sitcoms like Good Times, The Jeffersons, All In The Family, and Cooley High. Kenneth Williams popularly known by his stage name, Eric Monte was ...Show More
I was five years old and I loved cowboys - Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, the Lone Ranger - and I had this Show more
I was five years old and I loved cowboys - Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, the Lone Ranger - and I had this little broomstick horse. And I was running, riding around like it was a horse. And this big old white guy came up to me. Now that I look back at it, he might not have been that big or that old, but he was definitely white. And he said who are you supposed to be? And I rode back on my little broomstick horse and I said I'm the Lone Ranger. So he said you can't be the Lone Ranger, the Lone Ranger is white. So I made a vow that when I grew up I was going to make some black heroes. Hide
I've never been one to obey the rules unless they made sense to me. If I had it to do over again, I' Show more
I've never been one to obey the rules unless they made sense to me. If I had it to do over again, I'd do less arguing and more negotiating. I'm just happy to be alive. Hide
As soon as I filed that suit, all my offers dried up. Nobody in Hollywood would talk to me. I was bl Show more
As soon as I filed that suit, all my offers dried up. Nobody in Hollywood would talk to me. I was blacklisted. Hide
Norman [Lear] considered my work too controversial. I pitched, "Good Times," in 1971, it didn't go o Show more
Norman [Lear] considered my work too controversial. I pitched, "Good Times," in 1971, it didn't go on the air until 1974. In those three years we had about 20 meetings. The one note I got in every meeting was, "Get rid of the father," a strong black man in a sit com won't work. In 1974 I got the contract to write, "Cooley High." When AIP sent the cast to Chicago to shoot the movie, I quit Norman's company. The following year he came out with The Jefferson's. Hide
And my mother said they have never ever had a black writer in Hollywood. If they ever get one he's g Show more
And my mother said they have never ever had a black writer in Hollywood. If they ever get one he's going to be some high-yellow black with a Harvard degree, not some high school dropout from Cabrini. I said Momma, I'm going to do this. A week later, I left with $5 and a suitcase, went out to Route 66, hitchhiked my way to Hollywood, and I had never written a word. Hide
My living in the shelter and my being broke, I see that as a minor inconvenience. Life is way too sh Show more
My living in the shelter and my being broke, I see that as a minor inconvenience. Life is way too short for me to let some idiotic thing like that make me unhappy. Please, no, I'm not sad about anything. I love life. I'm as happy as a sissy in Boys Town. My work ain't over. Hide
Working on Good Times was real hard. All the white writers wanted to do stereotypes and I refused. E Show more
Working on Good Times was real hard. All the white writers wanted to do stereotypes and I refused. Every week we'd argue and fight. They would ignore what I suggested and take all that, "Yassuh Boss," stuff to the cast and John Amos and Ester Rolle would have a fit. Then they'd give them what I wrote and the cast would like it they'd shoot it and it would go on the air. The next week it was the same fight. Originally I pictured J.J. as a street smart hustler who drove his honest, hard working parents crazy. Hide
Eric Monte's FILMOGRAPHY
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as Actor (6)
as Creator (1)