The author Alex Haley was sued successfully for plagiarizing by novelist Harold Courlander. The works he plagiarized led to the book that served as the basis for the mini-series Radici (1977). Haley paid $650,000 in an out of court settlement.
The village of Jufureh is most accurately depicted in the 2016 re-imaging of Roots. Historically this village was more of a city as it was home to thousands.
Retelling of the popular mini series from the late 1970s.
LeVar Burton, star of the original series, and Korin Williams were co-executive producers. Episode 1 was directed by Phillip Noyce, episode 2 by Mario Van Peebles, episode 3 by Thomas Carter, and episode 4 by Bruce Beresford.
The History channel commissioned a remake of the miniseries after acquiring rights from David L. Wolper's son, Mark Wolper, and Alex Haley's estate. The new eight-hour miniseries, with Mark Wolper as executive producer, drew on Haley's novel and the original miniseries albeit from a contemporary perspective. In April 2015, it was announced that along with The History Channel, Lifetime and A&E would also broadcast the remake of the Roots miniseries.
LeVar Burton: as the slave Ephraim, who is being transported in the caged wagon from the Waller plantation. He stars at Kunta Kinte. Burton played Kunta Kinte in both Radici (1977) and Roots: The Gift (1988).