Carol Speed was a working actor during the Blaxploitation period of the 1970's, and although she was memorable in the films she was in, her acting career never took off after that era ended.
Like so many talented performers of that time, Hollywood labeled actors by the color of their skin and even though the movie business did quite well off of the so-called "black" films, the stars of these movies had a difficult time finding work in "white" Hollywood after the Blaxploitation era came to a crashing halt.
Her most famous role was as the title character in the Exorcist inspired film, Abby, but her work stands out in almost all of her projects - most notably, The Mack, Black Samson, Dynamite Brothers and the Grindhouse classic, The Big Bird Cage.
Nearly forgotten today, Carol Speed had all the ingredients to stardom, but just never had the right breaks to land a bigger budget film. Fortunately, her films from the 1970's are still around for new generations to discover this wonderful talent.
Like so many talented performers of that time, Hollywood labeled actors by the color of their skin and even though the movie business did quite well off of the so-called "black" films, the stars of these movies had a difficult time finding work in "white" Hollywood after the Blaxploitation era came to a crashing halt.
Her most famous role was as the title character in the Exorcist inspired film, Abby, but her work stands out in almost all of her projects - most notably, The Mack, Black Samson, Dynamite Brothers and the Grindhouse classic, The Big Bird Cage.
Nearly forgotten today, Carol Speed had all the ingredients to stardom, but just never had the right breaks to land a bigger budget film. Fortunately, her films from the 1970's are still around for new generations to discover this wonderful talent.
Absolutely beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great site! Thank you for putting names to the faces that so many of us grew up watching..
ReplyDeleteI had been looking for this movie for 25 years, thank you, no one really seems to remember this movie, should be put on the tv show called, Bounce
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you put this out n remembering our black actors.thanks so much
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