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Eric Monte
Birthday:
25 December 1943
Birth Name:
Kenneth Williams
Biography
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 b...
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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.
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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...
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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.
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As soon as I filed that suit, all my offers dried up. Nobody in Hollywood would talk to me. I was blacklisted.
As soon as I filed that suit, all my offers dried up. Nobody in Hollywood would talk to me. I was blacklisted.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Chi...
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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.
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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...
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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.
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Eric Monte
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 born in Chicago,Illinois,USA. Kenneth Williams was raised in the projects known as the Cabrini-Green Housing Project. Monte being born into a low-economic area had deep aspirations as a child. Monte decided to drop out of high-school and pursue his dreams of being a "big-shot" in Hollywood. His dream came true five years later, when he was accepted by Norman Lear as a writer for All In The Family. While writing for the show All In The Family, he made a partnership with a co-star, Mike Evans to co-create an iconic African American sitcom called, Good Times(1974). Norman Lear was the producer of Good Times , which caused a stir off stage.Norman Lear would argue on several story lines with co-creator Eric Monte. Eric Monte states Norman Lear often chastised the writers and wanted John Amos's character off the show. This eventually happened in 1975. In 1975 Eric Monte with Norman Lear made another memorable contribution to African American television with Monte creating the character George Jefferson. In 1975,Cooley High a film Eric Monte wrote was released into theaters and received rave reviews, even being ranked by Entertainment Weekly as one of the best High-School movies of all time!With the success of the 1975 movie, Cooley High a sitcom adaption then followed in 1976 called, What's Happening! What's Happening was written and solely created by Eric Monte. What's Happening became the fist African American teen sitcom to break into the Nielsen ratings! In 1977 Eric Monte filed a law-suit against former partner Norman Lear,ABC,CBS,And Bud Yorkin (creator of Sanford And Son). Monte claimed they stole his ideas for The Jeffersons,Good Times,What's Happening,and All In The Family. Monte won this case and received a one-million dollar settlement. Both of his shows which he co-created both ended on a very successful run in 1979; Good Times and What's Happening. Monte's co-creator, Mike Evans went back to his role as Lionel Jefferson and Monte made a spin off of the successful show What's Happening called, What's Happening Now! The spin-off ran until 1988. Monte then ventured to a finance a theater production of a play he had written called, If They Come Back where he spent a large sum of his settlement money. The outcome of the play was a commercial failure. This escalated Eric Monte to declare bankruptcy and develop a severe cocaine addiction.In the mid 90's Monte tried to make a comeback and wrote an episode of the comedy show, "The Wayans Bros" as well as "Moesha". Monte felt it was not a successful comeback. In 2006, Monte decided to live in the Salvation Army of Bell,California. The Salvation Army does regular drug tests and Monte now remains sober from all narcotics. Monte in the late 2000's made his debut as an author writing a book called, "BluePrints For Peace". Monte says the book states seven different ways we can achieve world peace. Monte now resides in his birthplace, Chicago Illinois and is still writing television and film scripts looking for them to be sold, attempting to make another comeback. Eric Monte will be forever known as a pioneer African American playwright, whom made American and the world a better place through his movies,television shows,and books.
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