ABOUT THE SHOW

In the early 1960s, Dick Gregory was the top moneymaking entertainer in America, a stand-up comic whose urbane and wry style, even while speaking about the atrocities that Blacks were going through in the Jim Crow-South, allowed him to perform in front of both black and white audiences. In 1962, already a fixture on late-night TV, Gregory went from speaking to crowds at protests to marching with them. He was arrested, beaten by police, even shot, …then would go on TV to talk about it all. By 1968, Gregory was speaking out against the Vietnam War, which made him a target of the FBI. In a bold move to bring awareness to world hunger in the 1970s, Gregory, a gifted athlete in his youth, would later run from New York to Los Angeles — fueled only by a plant-based nutrient powder he invented called “4X Formula.” Turning that invention into the well-advertised “Bahamian Diet” in the 1980s, Gregory began a campaign to help the black community eat better and end obesity in America, all while he endured his own financial troubles, but enjoyed a late-in-life — and characteristically notorious — comeback.

In writer-director Andre Gaines’ THE ONE AND ONLY DICK GREGORY, extraordinary archival footage and new interviews put a spotlight on this icon’s journey from influential comedian to on-the-ground activist — which is discussed by modern legends including Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, and Wanda Sykes , along with commentary from Harry Belafonte, W. Kamau Bell, Lawrence O’Donnell, Gregory’s wife Lillian Gregory, Medgar Evers’ wife Dr. Myrlie Evers-Williams, and others. Most essential is Dick Gregory himself, whose insights before he died in 2017 provide a crucial through line to what Gregory gave voice to during the Civil Rights era — and which continue to be vital today.

THE ONE AND ONLY DICK GREGORY Written and Directed by Andre Gaines. Produced by Andre Gaines, p.g.a., Valeries Edwards. Co-Executive Producers, Rob Schneider, Emma Pildes, Lauren Dandridge Gaines. Co-Producers, Madison Passarelli, Julie Turner. Story Producers, Valerie Edwards, Cinque Northern. Archival Producer, Elizabeth Pepin Silva. Associate Producers, Alexia Holdiman, Jimmy Gaines, Sr., Sharon Green-Gaines, Isabella Edwards. Supervising Producers, Brynne Chappell, Michele Jaber. Consulting Producers, Chad Troutwine, Robert Weide, Michele Farinola. Editors, Cingue Northern, Jason Pollard, Ron Eigen. Co-Editor, Patrick Murphy. Directors of Photography, Derek Mindler, Lucas Pitassi. Original Score by Kyle Townsend.