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His friend Norman, who played Robert, was killed in a corner stick-up, and Stone got eight years in prison for armed robbery.
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Rick Stone had a rougher go of it after Cooley High.
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Taylor used her experience in the movie to launch Chicago's Black Ensemble Theater, which is still going strong today. "Cooley High has such a strong message of positivity and breaking through barriers and becoming somebody no matter what your circumstances in life may be," says Jackie Taylor, who played Cochise's girlfriend in the movie.
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He worked on TV shows like Good Times and The Jeffersons, living out Preach's dreams of becoming a Hollywood screenwriter. It was horrible."Īfter that incident, Monte hitchhiked his way out west. Like so much of the movie, Cochise's death was also drawn from Eric Monte's life and memories of a friend who died. Preach finds him lying motionless under the El tracks, and his screams of anguish are drowned out by the trains above. Afterward, Stone and Robert think the other two snitched on them. Even poor, we had fun, fun, fun," he says.īut - spoiler alert - Cooley High takes a dark turn when Stone and Robert convince Preach and Cochise to steal a Cadillac.
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Although he's suffered several strokes in recent years, he remembers it well. Eric Monte wrote the film based on his time at the real Cooley Vocational High School. Throughout the film, the pair cuts class, hops on the back of a CTA bus and tries to get to first base with their girlfriends.įor many viewers, what made Cooley High such a landmark film was its honest depiction of teenage life in the projects. The character Preach, played by Glynn Turman, is best friends with basketball star and ladies man Cochise, who's played by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. Preach: Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. If we wanted to be preached to we'd go to church. Preach: Cause we're gambling here, sweet thing.īrenda: This is a restaurant, not an alley.Ĭochise: Hey, hey keep on stepping baby. Norman: Hey mama, go walk somewhere else.īrenda: Why don't you gamble someplace else? Norman's character is called Robert, and Stone's is called.Stone. They were looking for two of the toughest gang-bangers around here and come to find out, it was the police that recommended us." Cooley High is not a documentary - but the two gang members essentially play themselves. "He was like, 'How would you guys like to be in a movie?' " Stone says. Inside was one of Cooley High's producers. "That's where we were, right there." He recalls the day he and his friend Norman were shooting hoops when a white stretch limo pulled up. "See where it says Starbucks?" Stone says. This was the heart of the Cabrini-Green projects, where Rick Stone, who grew up here, got his first acting job four decades ago. The camera then pans across high-rise apartments before zooming in on a drab row house. The opening credits of Cooley High feature a wide shot of Chicago's iconic skyline. Set in Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing project, it became a touchstone for filmmakers like John Singleton and Spike Lee. Cooley High showed a slice of urban life rarely seen in " blaxploitation" movies of the time. Rick Stone (left) was a gang member from Cabrini-Green who was asked to play himself in Cooley High.Ī classic of black cinema celebrated its 40th birthday on June 25.