Kareem Abdul-Jabaar
Born in New York City in 1947, Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor (Lew Alcindor) was always tall. He was 6 feet 8 inches tall before entering high school, where his team finished with a 79-2 record including a 71-game winning streak. Although NCAA rules prevented freshman from playing during the season, the Alcindor-led freshman team at UCLA beat the varsity team that went on to win the National Championship, beginning a renowned college career that resulted in an unprecedented three consecutive National Championships of his own and an 88-2 record, as well as earning his BA in History. In 1968, Alcindor converted to Islam and in 1969 was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks with the first pick in the NBA draft. In his second year in the league, Alcindor won fist first NBA MVP award, and led the Bucks to their first NBA Championship, where he was named the finals MVP. The day after winning the finals, Alcindor began publicly using his Arabic name, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The same year, he made his first appearance as an actor, on the private eye show "Mannix" (CBS, 1967-1975). In 1975, Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he was joined, in 1979, by Magic Johnson. The pair ushered in the Lakers basketball dynasty, appearing in the NBA finals 8 times, winning 5. Abdul-Jabbar earned his record sixth NBA MVP award in 1980. Abdul-Jabbar continued to appear occasionally in film and TV; most notably he had a memorable cameo in the classic slapstick comedy "Airplane" (1980). When he retired in 1989 after 20 years in basketball, Abdul-Jabbar was considered the greatest player of all time. After his basketball career, Abdul-Jabbar was a frequent writer and activist for racial equality. In 1986, he published his first novel of History, Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement. He has also co-written a pair books, Mycroft Holmes and Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes, which take the famous character on new adventures. Abdul-Jabbar also produced and directed "On the Shoulders of Giants" (2011) about a legendary but overlooked basketball team from 1930s Harlem. In 2018 it was announced that he would add screenwriter to his resume, as he was named as one of the writers on the series reboot of "Veronica Mars" (The CW, 2004-07).
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Kareem Abdul-Jabaar
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Black Patriots: Heroes of the Civil War |
Narrator, Executive Producer |
- | 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Iceman | Self | - | 2022 |
88% |
|
A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks | Self | - | 2021 |
No Score Yet |
|
John Bronco | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Character) | - | 2020 |
93% |
|
Be Water | Self | - | 2020 |
No Score Yet |
|
On the Shoulders of Giants |
Narrator, Writer, Executive Producer |
- | 2010 |
No Score Yet |
|
1 Love | Unknown (Character) | - | 2003 |
No Score Yet |
|
Bruce Lee - A Warrior's Journey | Unknown (Character) | - | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
|
Slam Dunk Ernest | The Archangel of Basketball (Character) | - | 1995 |
97% |
|
Airplane! | Roger Murdoch (Character) | - | 1980 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Jennifer Hudson Show | Guest | 2023 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Daily Show | Guest | 2004 2023 |
82% | 95% | Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers | Self | 2022 |
No Score Yet | 44% | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2020 2022 |
100% | 85% | Dear... | Self | 2022 |
100% | 75% | Muhammad Ali | Self | 2021 |
No Score Yet | 61% | Late Night With Seth Meyers | Guest | 2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sesame Street | Guest | 1992 2013 2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | To Tell the Truth | Guest | 2019 |
92% | 79% | Veronica Mars | Writer | 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | What's My Name: Muhammad Ali | Unknown (Character) | 2019 |
92% | 69% | iZombie | Zed (Guest Star) | 2019 |
81% | 84% | The Big Bang Theory | Himself (Guest Star) | 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Talk | Guest | 2018 |
94% | 79% | Fresh Off the Boat | Self (Guest Star) | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Beat Shazam | Guest | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dancing With the Stars | Contestant | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Last Call With Carson Daly | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Celebrity Family Feud | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Tavis Smiley | Guest | 2016-2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Chew | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | 12% | The View | Guest | 2015 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Real Time With Bill Maher | Guest | 2014 |
54% | 67% | The Crazy Ones | Himself (Guest Star) | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | My Generation | Guest | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Splash | Contestant | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen | Guest | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Late Night With Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2012 |
95% | 85% | New Girl | Himself (Guest Star) | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Wendy Williams Show | Guest | 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Colbert Report |
Unknown (Character), Guest |
2008 2011 |
85% | 76% | The Simpsons | Himself (Guest Voice) | 1995 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Apprentice | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2007 |
83% | 86% | Scrubs | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Guest Star) | 2006 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The War Next Door | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2000 |
93% | No Score Yet | The Gregory Hines Show | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1998 |
33% | No Score Yet | Boston Common | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Living Single | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1997 |
No Score Yet | 86% | Everybody Loves Raymond | Himself (Guest Star) | 1996 |
No Score Yet | 93% | Martin | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1996 |
85% | 83% | The Critic | Unknown (Guest Voice) | 1994-1995 |
No Score Yet | 80% | Full House | Self | 1995 |
No Score Yet | 91% | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1994 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | 21 Jump Street | Wesley Williams (Guest Star) | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Diff'rent Strokes | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1982 1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mannix | Jeff (Guest Star) | 1971 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Buddies | Self |