Film of the Day: 70

Truck Turner (1974)

Born in Covington, Tennessee in 1942, Isaac Lee Hayes became a major creative influence in southern soul music and later began to write music for feature films. But in 1971 he got his fame.

Hayes was given the opportunity to write the musical score of the film Shaft and was even originally offered the lead role in the film, but that obviously went to Richard Roundtree.

The film was an immediate hit and the music of the film became astoundingly famous and even won him an Oscar for the theme song. This made him the third African-American to win an Oscar, first being Hattie McDaniel as Mammy in Gone with the Wind and second being Sidney Poitier as Homer Smith in Lilies of the Field.

The film Shaft is known for being the first blaxploitation film (however some say Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song was he first, even though it does not have the same elements as a blaxploitation film) and was one of the most profitable films of the year for MGM.

Three years later, after loosing the lead role to Roundtree, he got shot in acting, first in Tough Guys and then Truck Turner. This was not as much a success as Shaft yet it brought out Isaac Hayes's ultra coolness on the screen and is one of the better blaxploitation films.

In the film, Turner is an ex-footballer and is now a tough ass bounty hunter with his partner Jerry. They are after a pimp who is constantly jumping bail when they run into him in a deadly shootout and Turner is forced to nail the pimp dead.

Now with the pimp dead, a group of hired assassins have been sent to kill Turner by Dorinda (played by Nichelle Nichols who was famous for the role of Uhura in Star Trek). The film also features Yaphet Kotto who starred in Live and Let Die, Alien and Midnight Run. Then in 1976, Isaac Hayes filed for bankruptcy.

Isaac Hayes

He later landed a role in John Carpenter's awesome Escape From New York as The Duke and later went on with his music career and continued to compose music for feature films such as Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2. He also became famous as the chef in South Park but was killed off the show after he resigned for religious reasons.

In January 2006, Isaac Hayes suffered a stroke but survived but in 2008 today Isaac Hayes suffered another stoke in Memphis, Tennessee, only this time it was fatal and The Black Moses was dead at the age of 65. Today he is mostly remembered for his music in the film Shaft and his role as the chef in South Park.

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