{"id":97106,"date":"2020-10-25T07:55:01","date_gmt":"2020-10-25T04:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/william-blinn-brians-song-and-roots-screenwriter-dead-at-83\/"},"modified":"2020-10-25T07:55:01","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T04:55:01","slug":"william-blinn-brians-song-and-roots-screenwriter-dead-at-83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/william-blinn-brians-song-and-roots-screenwriter-dead-at-83\/","title":{"rendered":"#William Blinn, ‘Brian’s Song’ and ‘Roots’ screenwriter, dead at 83"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#William Blinn, ‘Brian’s Song’ and ‘Roots’ screenwriter, dead at 83<\/strong>”
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William Blinn, a screenwriter for the landmark TV projects \u201cBrian\u2019s Song\u201d and \u201cRoots\u201d and the Prince film \u201cPurple Rain,\u201d has died. He was 83.<\/p>\n

Blinn died Thursday of natural causes at an assisting living community in Burbank, California, his daughter, Anneliese Johnson, said Saturday.<\/p>\n

He won Emmy and Peabody honors for the 1971 TV movie \u201cBrian\u2019s Song,\u201d which dramatized the friendship of Chicago Bears players Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers. It was a hit when it aired and is an enduring favorite with sports fans and critics.<\/p>\n

Last month, Hall of Fame running back Sayers died at age 77.<\/p>\n

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Blinn\u2019s work on \u201cRoots,\u201d the blockbuster 1977 miniseries<\/a> adapted from Alex Haley\u2019s book about his African American ancestors in slavery and freedom, won an Emmy and a Humanitas Prize.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a master of his art and a gentleman of the first order. Rest easy, my friend,\u201d actor Jim Beaver (\u201cDeadwood,\u201d \u201cSupernatural\u201d) posted on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Johnson described her father as a \u201cpioneer who went against the grain and wrote and created what he felt. \u2026 He wanted to create what really felt organic and authentic. He never acquiesced to the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blinn was modest about his accomplishments and the accolades he received, she said, with a \u201chumble, grounded view of life\u201d that he imparted to his family.<\/p>\n

A native of Toledo, Ohio, Blinn\u2019s early TV credits included the 1960s shows \u201cRawhide,\u201d \u201cBonnaza\u201d and \u201cMy Favorite Martian.\u201d He went on to create and produce shows, among them \u201cStarsky & Hutch,\u201d \u201cThe Rookies\u201d and \u201cPensacola: Wings of Gold,\u201d in a career that spanned five decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrian\u2019s Song,\u201d starring James Caan as Piccolo and Billy Dee Williams as Sayers, portrayed the two bonding when they became roommates on the road, rare at the time for Black and white players. They drew closer when Piccolo was diagnosed with cancer that proved terminal in 1970.<\/p>\n

Blinn and Albert Magnoli wrote 1984\u2032s \u201cPurple Rain,\u201d which Magnoli directed.<\/p>\n

Besides his daughter, Blinn\u2019s survivors include his son, Chris, and his grandchildren.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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If you want to read more News<\/a> articles, you can visit our News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#William Blinn, ‘Brian’s Song’ and ‘Roots’ screenwriter, dead at 83” William Blinn, a screenwriter for the landmark TV projects \u201cBrian\u2019s Song\u201d and \u201cRoots\u201d and the Prince film \u201cPurple Rain,\u201d has died. He was 83. Blinn died Thursday of natural causes at an assisting living community in Burbank, California, his daughter, Anneliese Johnson, said Saturday. He…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/AP20298800596090.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[77111,70255,71364,77117],"class_list":["post-97106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-10-25-20","tag-celebrity-deaths","tag-classic-television","tag-roots"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}