Robin Harris

This large-eyed African-American stand-up comedian's churlish brand of humor and quick put-downs briefly found a place in screen comedies during the late 1980s and early 90s. Harris made a promising feature debut playing a smart-ass bartender in Keenan Ivory Wayan's sendup of 1970s Blaxploitation movies, "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" (1988). But it was his next feature, Spike Lee's sweltering "Do the Right Thing" (1989), where he first stood out. As Sweet Dick Willie, Harris served as part of the neighborhood "Greek chorus" that commented on the events of an increasingly tense day. The producing/directing team of Reginald and Warrington Hudlin found Harris a perfect platform when they cast him as Pop, the no-nonsense, quick-witted father of Kid in the agreeably raucous comedy "House Party" (1990). He followed up later that year with a small turn as a jazz club MC in Lee's "Mo' Better Blues." The film was dedicated to Harris who died after production wrapped.

In 1992, the Hudlins paid tribute to the late comic when they wrote and produced the animated feature "Bebe's Kids." Based on characters from Harris' standup act, the film told the story of a man's (ostensibly Harris but voiced by another comic) attempt to go out on a blind date despite the antics of a group of unruly inner-city kids. The film served as a nice, if regrettably posthumous, calling card for a man whose work was just beginning to receive the exposure it deserved.