In Remembrance: Carl Wright

     Carl Wright, the comic actor best known for his roles in the two Barbershop comedies, has passed away on May 19, 2007 in Chicago, IL. He was 75.

     Born in 1932 in Orlando, FL, Wright entered show business as a tap dancer at age 16. In the early 1950s he arrived in Chicago, where he met and teamed with Frank James, a one-legged dancer, for an act they called the Three-Leggers. The act broke up after Wright enlisted in the Army for a two-year stint. Wright later performed as an emcee and comedian and worked as a songwriter.

     In 1987, Wright began co-hosting a local cable television program in Chicago called Blues & More, where his co-host interviewed Blues legends like B. B. King while he played a comedic character called the Right Reverend Wright. Spotted on the show by the producers of the 1997 dramedy Soul Food, Wright was cast in the film and starting a new career in film.

     Wright followed Soul Food with small roles in Big Momma’s House (2000) and Just Visiting (2001). For the comedy Barbershop (2002) and its 2004 sequel, Wright played Checkers Fred, one of many ensemble characters who hung out at the film’s titular establishment offering wry comments on the goings-on.

     His last film appearance was in the 2004 comedy The Cookout.