Black Biopics
List activity
19K views
• 102 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
- 35 titles
- DirectorReginald HudlinStarsChadwick BosemanJosh GadKate HudsonThe story of Thurgood Marshall, the crusading lawyer who would become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, as he battles through one of his career-defining cases.
- DirectorTate TaylorStarsChadwick BosemanNelsan EllisDan AykroydA chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsJamie FoxxRegina KingKerry WashingtonThe story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
- DirectorBill CondonStarsBeyoncéJamie FoxxEddie MurphyA trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.
- DirectorDarnell MartinStarsAdrien BrodyJeffrey WrightBeyoncéChronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsWill SmithJamie FoxxJon VoightA biography of sports legend Muhammad Ali, focusing on his triumphs and controversies between 1964 and 1974.
- DirectorBrian HelgelandStarsChadwick BosemanT.R. KnightHarrison FordIn 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and faces considerable racism in the process.
- DirectorJulie DashStarsAngela BassettPeter Francis JamesTonea StewartA seamstress recalls events leading to her act of peaceful defiance that prompted the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.
- DirectorDarrell RoodtStarsJennifer HudsonTerrence HowardElias KoteasA drama that chronicles the life of Winnie Mandela from her childhood through her marriage and her husband's incarceration.
- DirectorGregory NavaStarsHalle BerryVivica A. FoxLela RochonThree women each claim to be the widow of 1950s doo-wop singer Frankie Lymon, claiming legal rights to his estate.
- DirectorJustin ChadwickStarsIdris ElbaNaomie HarrisTerry PhetoA chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.
- DirectorGeorge Tillman Jr.StarsJamal WoolardAnthony MackieDerek LukeThe life and death story of The Notorious B.I.G. (a.k.a. Christopher Wallace), who came straight out of Brooklyn to take the world of rap music by storm.
- DirectorMartha CoolidgeStarsHalle BerryBrent SpinerKlaus Maria BrandauerDorothy Dandridge's way to fame and fortune as a dancer, singer and actress.
- DirectorBrian GibsonStarsLynn WhitfieldRubén BladesDavid DukesBorn poor in St. Louis, Missouri, Josephine Baker achieved fame and fortune through her sizzlingly exotic, erotic performances. Starting life on the American Vaudeville circuit, success takes Josephine to Paris where her semi-nude dancing causes an international sensation. Through her marriages to an Italian pseudo-count and an orchestra leader, to her bond with army officer Sydney Williams, Josephine's life is a rollercoaster ride of love and rejection from both her lovers and her country. But semi-nude, or head-to-toes in sequins; in battle fatigues or rags - her beauty and ambition ensured that Josephine Baker will always be remembered as the first, and possibly most loved, truly international star.
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsJeffrey WrightMichael WincottBenicio Del ToroThe brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsDiana RossBilly Dee WilliamsRichard PryorThe story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
- StarsLawrence Hilton-JacobsAngela BassettHolly Robinson PeeteThe story of the Jackson family and their rise to success.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsDenzel WashingtonVicellous ShannonDeborah Kara UngerThe story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
- DirectorDenzel WashingtonStarsDenzel WashingtonDerek LukeJoy BryantAntwone Fisher, a young navy man, is forced to see a psychiatrist after a violent outburst against a fellow crewman. During the course of treatment a painful past is revealed and a new hope begins.
- DirectorRobert TownsendStarsLeonJenifer LewisCarl LumblyThe story of Little Richard Penniman, from his poor Southern upbringing to dealing with the trials and tribulations of being a black singer in the 1950s, to his born-again phase and brief "retirement" from rock and roll.
- DirectorKasi LemmonsStarsDon CheadleChiwetel EjioforBruce McFeeThe story of Washington D.C. radio personality Ralph "Petey" Greene, an ex-con who became a popular talk show host and community activist in the 1960s.
- StarsCharles Malik WhitfieldD.B. WoodsideTerron BrooksBiography of the singers who formed the hit Motown musical act, The Temptations.
- DirectorBrian GibsonStarsAngela BassettLaurence FishburneRaéVen KellyThe story of singer Tina Turner's rise to stardom and how she gained the courage to break free from her abusive husband, Ike Turner.
- DirectorJohn RidleyStarsAndré 3000Hayley AtwellImogen PootsA drama based on Jimi Hendrix's life as he left New York City for London, where his career took off.
- DirectorGary FlederStarsRob BrownDennis QuaidClancy BrownA drama based on the life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.