Whose amazing life-story would you like to see turned into a big-budget film? (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

Marvin Gaye (there have been several false starts, include one that was nearly done filming before they ran out of money)

 

[Optimus Prime]

Marlon Wayans tried for years to get a movie made

NSFW

 

[faceman]

There is a Vietnam vet I met a few years ago who won the Medal of Honor. His last name was Lynch. Just a fantastic human. It would have to be a fiction based on real events but I would for sure watch it.

Allen James Lynch - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

In honor of the marines, I've always wanted to see a film about Chesty Puller.

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

Frederick Douglass, first of all. How this man is not in the same strata of the American mythos as Lincoln, Washington, et al is beyond me. A good, Oscar-bait three hour biopic of the man is one way of changing that. An intellectual titan, an escaped slave, a leader, and a paragon of American virtue.

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

Robert Smalls. His escape from slavery is a thrilling tale and his post-escape life is as monumental. Here is a link to the wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smalls

The escape is so daring, so unbelievably risky that you can practically hear the score playing in the background. His story was MADE for cinema and I cannot believe it hasn't been a film already.

 

[Taurus]

Robert Heinlein

 

[Doug B]

Not as heavy-duty as some of the ones mentioned upthread ... but I would be interested in seeing a coming-of-age film about teenaged Ray Parker, Jr. learning the music business from Motown greats at Detroit’s Twenty One Grand club in the late 1960s.

13-year-old Parker was invited to play with the club’s house band in 1967. The film would end around when 18-year-old Parker goes on tour with Stevie Wonder in 1972 and leaves his life in Detroit behind.

Interview: Ray Parker, Jr - The Last Miles

If you’re of a certain age, Ray Parker Jr will be on a lot of records that are the soundtrack of your life. Ray, who was born in Detroit in 1954, was a teenage guitar protégé playing behind acts such as Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and Gladys Knight and The Pips at the Twenty Grand […]

www.thelastmiles.com

 

[Sailorsaint]

Not a movie, but I would really like to read an autobiography of this man. I served under him at USPACOM in Hawaii and he personified the old "blood and guts" perception of a Marine.

* Navy Cross Citation

The Navy Cross is awarded to Captain George R. Christmas, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as the Commanding Officer of Company H, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division in connection with operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On the afternoon of 5 February 1968 during Operation Hue City, Company H was attacking a complex of buildings known to be an enemy strong point consisting of mutually supporting bunkers, fighting holes, and trench lines. During the ensuing fire fight, two platoons seized the corner building of a city block, but intense hostile small-arms, automatic weapons, and B-40 rocket fire temporarily halted the advance. Realizing the seriousness of the situation and the urgent need to sustain the momentum of the attack, Captain Christmas, undaunted by the heavy volume of enemy fire, completely disregarded his own safety as he moved across thirty-five meters of open area to join the lead element and assess the situation. Returning across the fire-swept area, he rejoined the remaining platoon, issued an attack order, and then ran seventy meters across open terrain, ignoring automatic weapons fire, and satchel charges striking around him to reach a tank he had requested. Braving enemy fire and two B-40 rockets that hit the tank, he fearlessly stood atop the vehicle to direct accurate fire against the hostile positions until the intensity of enemy fire diminished. Immediately realizing the tactical advantage, he jumped from the tank, and directed his company in an aggressive assault on the hostile positions, personally leading his men in room-to-room fighting until the building complex was secured. In a large measure due to his bold initiative and courageous actions, he provided the impetus which inspired his men to aggressive action and enabled them to successfully accomplish the mission. By his dynamic leadership, unfaltering determination and selfless devotion to duty in the face of extreme personal danger, Captain Christmas upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

In Retirement

Christmas serves as a Director of Stone Energy Corporation in Louisiana; he also serves on the Board of Advisors of Recruit Military.
From 1996-2011, he served as the President and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.

Military Hall of Honor | Your online source to identify and honor every man and woman, dead or alive, that has honorably served, or is serving, in the US Armed Forces from 1775 to present. | MilitaryHallofHonor.com

Military Hall of Honor, a virtual Military Hall of Honor. Remembrances and tributes to all those who have honorably served in the US Armed Forces.

militaryhallofhonor.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

* Navy Cross Citation

The Navy Cross is awarded to Captain George R. Christmas, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as the Commanding Officer of Company H, Second Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division in connection with operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On the afternoon of 5 February 1968 during Operation Hue City, Company H was attacking a complex of buildings known to be an enemy strong point consisting of mutually supporting bunkers, fighting holes, and trench lines. During the ensuing fire fight, two platoons seized the corner building of a city block, but intense hostile small-arms, automatic weapons, and B-40 rocket fire temporarily halted the advance. Realizing the seriousness of the situation and the urgent need to sustain the momentum of the attack, Captain Christmas, undaunted by the heavy volume of enemy fire, completely disregarded his own safety as he moved across thirty-five meters of open area to join the lead element and assess the situation. Returning across the fire-swept area, he rejoined the remaining platoon, issued an attack order, and then ran seventy meters across open terrain, ignoring automatic weapons fire, and satchel charges striking around him to reach a tank he had requested. Braving enemy fire and two B-40 rockets that hit the tank, he fearlessly stood atop the vehicle to direct accurate fire against the hostile positions until the intensity of enemy fire diminished. Immediately realizing the tactical advantage, he jumped from the tank, and directed his company in an aggressive assault on the hostile positions, personally leading his men in room-to-room fighting until the building complex was secured. In a large measure due to his bold initiative and courageous actions, he provided the impetus which inspired his men to aggressive action and enabled them to successfully accomplish the mission. By his dynamic leadership, unfaltering determination and selfless devotion to duty in the face of extreme personal danger, Captain Christmas upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

In Retirement

Christmas serves as a Director of Stone Energy Corporation in Louisiana; he also serves on the Board of Advisors of Recruit Military.
From 1996-2011, he served as the President and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.

I have a vison of what a Captain Christmas would look like, but it's probably wrong

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[SaintJ]

Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. A facsinating life and a most interesting man.

Other maybe than Eisenhower, Sherman is probably my favorite general, and he has the distinction of being the first man to burn down Atlanta before Sean Payton.

 

[SWJJ]

The first black 4 star General in the Marines is from Shreveport.

Maybe if they did a movie about him SSF posters would quit with the 318 hate:

Leadership

 

[Saint by the Bay]

I'm actually working on a script based on the life of Panama Al Brown. He was the first afro-Latino lightweight boxing champ. He was also gay, thin as a rail, and very flamboyant. He hung with some of the great musicians of the day, lived in Paris, was nearly beaten to death after a match by the crowd, and lived an amazingly interesting life before dying young and destitute.

I've always been fascinated by his life and since nobody else was writing about it I figured I would.

 

[GW93]

Several years ago, I read a book about history's forgotten badasses -- guys who led successful guerilla campaigns against various colonial types, or black-ops types who helped foreign governments root out insurgents.

Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the book or anyone profiled in it.

 

[Infoman]

Charlie Murphy