Based on Davis' 1961 play Purlie Victorious (which was later translated into the 1963 film Gone Are the Days! and which included all of the original Broadway cast, including Ruby Dee, Alan Alda, Beah Richards, and Godfrey Cambridge), Purlie is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell, and music by Gary Geld. It won two Tony Awards and was also nominated for Best Musical. This 1981 television adaptation is directed by Rudi Goldman and stars Broadway cast members Guillaume, Moore, Hemsley, and Hopkins, with Brandon Maggart as Cotchipee, Clarice Taylor as Idilla, and Don Scardino as Charlie. The production won a CableACE Award.
Robert Guillaume
Melba Moore
Sherman Hemsley
Linda Hopkins
Rhetta Hughes
Brandon Maggart
Don Scardino
Clarice Taylor
Loretta Abbott
Brenda Braxton
P.L. Brown
Olivia Detante
Suzzanne Douglas
Cisco Drayton
Tanya Gibson
Michael Goring
Milt Grayson
Lawrence Hamilton
Clinton King Keen
Mildred Lane
Judy Leak
Eugene Little
Pauletta Washington
Lou Ann Pickett
Herbert Rawlings
Renee Rose
Ted Ross
Otis Sallid
Henry Shaw
Valerie Smith
Jeffery V. Thompson
Denessa Tobin
David Weatherspoon