Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Biography (1947-)

Original name, Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.; born April 16, 1947, in New York, NY; name legally changed in 1971; son of Ferdinand Lewis (a police officerand jazz musician) and Cora (a department store price checker) Alcindor; married Janice (name changed to Habiba) Brown, 1971 (divorced, 1973); children:Habiba, Sultana, Kareem; (with Cheryl Pistono) Amir; (with another woman) Adam. Addresses: Agent: Amsel, Eisenstadt & Frazier, 5757 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 510, Los Angeles, CA 90046.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Actor, producer
Birth Details: April 16, 1947; New York, New York, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Appearances
Himself, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, United Artists, 1979
Hakim, Game of Death (also known as Bruce Lee's Game of Death, Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death, and Si wang you ju), Columbia, 1979
Roger Murdock, copilot, Airplane! (also known as Flying High), Paramount, 1980
Himself, Fletch, Universal, 1984
Himself, Troop Beverly Hills, Columbia, 1989
Himself, Curse of the Dragon (also known as Bruce Lee: Curse ofthe Dragon), Warner Bros., 1993
Celebrity at party, D2: The Mighty Ducks (also known as The Mighty Ducks 2), Buena Vista, 1994
Himself, Forget Paris, Columbia, 1995
The archangel, Slam Dunk Ernest, Buena Vista Pictures, 1995
Himself, BASEketball, Universal, 1998
Television Appearances
Movies
Shooting Stars, 1983
New tenant in Sal's apartment, Jake Spanner, Private Eye (also known as Jake Spanner, Back on the Case, The Old Dick, and Hoodwinked), USA Network, 1989
Himself, Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault (also known as Rebound), HBO, 1996
Miniseries
Himself, Eyes on the Prize II, 1990
Monster shouter, Stephen King's "The Stand" (also known as TheStand), ABC, 1994
Episodic
Jeff, "A Day Filled with Shadows," Mannix, CBS, 1971
Man stuck in car, "Foreign Trade," Emergency, NBC, 1974
The Giant, "Giant," Man from Atlantis, NBC, 1977
Mr. Wilkes, "Substitute Teacher," Diff'rent Strokes, NBC, 1982
The Djinn, "Djinn, No Chaser," Tales from the Darkside, syndicated, 1984
Pryor's Place, CBS, 1984
"The Hero Who Couldn't Read," ABC Afterschool Special, ABC, 1985
Mr. Wilkes, "A Tale of Two Teachers," Diff'rent Strokes, ABC, 1985
Pryor's Place, CBS, 1985
"James Hill," An American Portrait, CBS, 1986
Himself, "Ask Max," Disney Sunday Movie, ABC, 1986

Himself, "Blood Money," Stingray, NBC, 1987
"Special Games," Bustin' Loose, syndicated, 1987
Oriental Rugs (also known as Art Underfoot), PBS, 1990
"Malcolm Takes a Shot," CBS Schoolbreak Specials, CBS, 1990
Wesley Williams, "Hi Mom," 21 Jump Street, Fox, 1990
Judge, Uncle Buck, 1991
Amen, 1991
Blind man, "Shadows from the Past," Matrix, USA, 1993
"A Salute to the Newport Jazz Festival," In Performance at the White House, PBS, 1993
"Bruce Lee," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 1994
Voice of himself, "A Day at the Races and a Night at the Opera," The Critic (animated), ABC, 1994
Himself, "Will's Misery," The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, NBC, 1994
Himself, "Air Jesse," Full House, ABC, 1995
Voice of himself, "I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show," The Critic (animated), ABC, 1995
Doctor, "Why Can't We Be Friends," Martin, Fox, 1996
Himself, "Frank, the Writer," Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 1996
Himself, "Back in the Day," Living Single, Fox, 1997
Himself, "The Occidental Purists," Boston Common, NBC, 1997
Himself, "To Volunteer Is Human," The Gregory Hines Show, CBS, 1998
Also appeared as himself in the television show Good Sports.
Specials
Rock 'n' Wrestling Saturday Spectacular, CBS, 1985
Black Champions (also known as Who Will Wear the Crown?, New Times: The Integration of American Sports, and Looking for Tomorrow: Black Athletes and the Sporting Life), PBS, 1986
A Star-Spangled Celebration, ABC, 1987
The Second Annual Star-Spangled Celebration, ABC, 1988
Superstars and Their Moms, ABC, 1988
(And executive producer) All-Star Tribute to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,NBC, 1989
Cohost, History of the NBA, HBO, 1990
The Sports Comedy Network, CBS, 1990
Face to Face with Connie Chung, ABC, 1991
New Kids on the Block at Walt Disney World (also known as New Kids on the Block at Disney-MGM Studios: Wildest Dreams), ABC, 1991
Honoree, The Great Ones: The National Sports Awards, NBC, 1993
Presenter, Jim Thorpe Pro Sports Awards Presented by Footlocker, ABC, 1993
The Rich and Famous 1993 World's Best, syndicated, 1993
American Coaches: Men of Vision and Victory, HBO, 1994
Himself, Blue Note: A Story of Modern Jazz (also known as BlueNote), Bravo, 1996
Television Co-Executive Producer
Movies
The Road to Freedom: The Vernon Johns Story (also known as TheVernon Johns Story), syndicated, 1994
WRITINGS
Memoirs
(With Peter Knobler) Giant Steps: An Autobiography of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bantam, 1983
(With Mignon McCarthy) Kareem, Random House, 1990
(With Steinburg) Black Profiles in Courage, 1996
(With Stephen Singular) A Season on the Reservation: My Sojourn with the Mountain Apaches, Morrow, 2000
Contributor to periodicals, including TV Guide.

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Doucette, Eddie, The Milwaukee Bucks and the Remarkable Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Prentice-Hall, 1974
Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed.
Hano, Arnold, Kareem!: Basketball Great, Putnam, 1975
Haskins, James, From Lew Alcindor to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lothrop,1978
Jackson, H. C., Jabbar: Giant of the NBA, Walck, 1972
Klein, Dave, Pro Basketball's Big Men, Random House, 1973
Margolies, Jacob, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Basketball Great, F. Watts,1973
Notable Black Men, Gale Research, 1998
Pepe, Phil, Stand Tall: The Lew Alcindor Story, Grosset & Dunlap, 1970
Family Circle, October 13, 1992, p. 164
Jet, June 26, 1989, p. 46; October 9, 1989, p. 48; February 24, 1992, p. 52; February 16, 1998, p. 49; March 6, 2000, p. 53; August 7, 2000, p.36
People Weekly, October 28, 996, p. 41; September 13, 1999, p. 11
The Sporting News, February 28, 2000, p. 15
Sports Illustrated, October 19, 1987, p. 89; November 17, 1997, p.28; February 12, 1990, p. 34; November 30, 1998, p. 72
Variety, August 22, 1990, p. 3

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