Maxwell Julien Banks (July 12, 1933 – January 1, 2022), better known by his stage name Max Julien, was an American actor, sculptor, and clothes designer best known for his role as Goldie in the 1973 blaxploitation film ''

The Mack ''The Mack'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by California native Michael Campus, starring Max Julien and Richard Pryor. The film also stars Oscar-nominee Juanita Moore and Tony-nominated actor Dick Anthony Williams. Filmed in O ...

''. Julien also appeared in ''

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'' and he guest starred on TV shows such as ''

The Mod Squad ''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III ...

'', '' The Bold Ones: The Protectors,'' and '' One on One''. He began his career on the stage on New York City's Off-Broadway circuit including roles in

Joseph Papp Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created ...

's ''Shakespeare-In-The-Park''. Moving westward to Hollywood, he landed co-starring roles with

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

in '' Psych-Out'' and

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in Columbia's box-office hit film '' Getting Straight''. While spending time in Rome, Italy, he wrote and directed a documentary called ''Trestevre'', then wrote the screenplay for, and subsequently co-produced, Warner Brothers's blaxploitation classic ''

Cleopatra Jones ''Cleopatra Jones'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by Jack Starrett. Tamara Dobson stars as an undercover government agent who uses the day job of supermodel as her cover and an excuse to travel to exotic places. Bernie Casey, S ...

,'' which starred actress

Tamara Dobson Tamara Janice Dobson (May 14, 1947 – October 2, 2006) was an American actress and fashion model. Beginning her career in modeling during the late 1960s, Dobson became best known for her title role as government agent Cleopatra "Cleo" Jones the 1 ...

in the title role as a narcotics agent who was as skilled in martial arts as she was with firearms. Julien refused to participate in the sequel, '' Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold,'' which led to his being credited instead with the film's story and script both being "based on characters created by Max Julien".

Critics

For his performance in 1968's '' Up Tight!'', ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' movie critic

Judith Crist Judith Crist (; May 22, 1922 – August 7, 2012) was an American film critic and academic. She appeared regularly on the ''Today'' show from 1964 to 1973 Martin, Douglas (August 8, 2012)"Judith Crist, Zinging and Influential Film Critic, ...

stated that Julien was, "a standout in a standout cast." Raoul Gripenwaldt from ''The Santa Monica Evening Outlook'' wrote, "Max Julien's portrayal of Johnny Wells in Paramount's '' Uptight'' could very well result in an Academy Award." ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' chimed in, "Max Julien creates a memorable piece of reality." As a reward, Julien was invited to Europe to discuss film possibilities.

In popular culture

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's 2012 mixtape "Priest Andretti" features a song named after the actor, produced by Beat Butcha. The New Orleans rapper also mentions Max Julien in his song, "What's What," off of his 2011 album Weekend at Burnie's. * Many rappers have sampled his voice from ''The Mack'', including

Craig Mack Craig Jamieson Mack (May 10, 1971 – March 12, 2018) was an American rapper and record producer, and was famous during his tenure under Bad Boy Records. Early life and career Craig Jamieson Mack was born in The Bronx, New York, and raised on ...

Lloyd Banks Christopher Charles Lloyd (born April 30, 1982), better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper. He began his career as a member of East Coast hip hop group G-Unit, alongside childhood friends 50 Cent and Tony Yayo. After th ...

, Gangrene, Big K.R.I.T. and Do or Die. Multiple R&B, hip-hop and rock artists (i.e.,

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

Rappin' 4-Tay Anthony H. Forté (born March 2, 1968), better known by his stage name Rappin' 4-Tay, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. Early life Anthony Forte was born March 2, 1968 and grew up in San Francisco's Fillmore District. He has ...

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, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock) admittedly fashioned their images after Julien's character from the film. * Julien appeared as "Goldie" in an episode of

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

's '' One on One''.

Personal life and death

Julien was born in Washington, DC on July 12, 1933. He crossed through the Xi Chapter of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

on the December 4, 1954. Julien was in a live-in relationship with actress Vonetta McGee from 1974 to 1977. McGee appeared with him in the 1974 western action film ''Thomasine & Bushrod'', which was intended as a counterpart to the 1967 film '' Bonnie and Clyde''. He married Arabella Chavers in 1991. The couple resided in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. He died there on January 1, 2022, at the age of 88. Along with his wife, he is survived by a daughter.

Filmography

*'' The Black Klansman'' (1966) - Raymond *'' Psych-Out'' (1968) - Elwood *'' The Savage Seven'' (1968) - Grey Wolf *'' Up Tight!'' (1968) - Johnny Wells *''

'' (TV) - Jack Dawson (1968) 1 episode *'' The Bold Ones: The Protectors'' (TV) - Coley Walker (1969) pilot episode "

Deadlock In concurrent computing, deadlock is any situation in which no member of some group of entities can proceed because each waits for another member, including itself, to take action, such as sending a message or, more commonly, releasing a loc ...

" *'' CBS Playhouse'' (TV) - Joe Barnes (1969) 1 episode *'' Getting Straight'' (1970) - Ellis *'' The Name of the Game'' (TV) - Mjoma (1970) 1 episode *''

'' (1973) - Goldie *''

'' (1973) Screenwriter *''

Thomasine & Bushrod ''Thomasine & Bushrod'' is a 1974 Western film directed by Gordon Parks, Jr., written by and starring Max Julien and Vonetta McGee and was released by Columbia Pictures. The title song was written by Arthur Lee and performed by his band Love. ...

'' (1974) - Bushrod *''

'' (1997) - Uncle Fred *''Restore'' (2001) - Coach Barnes *'' One on One'' (TV) - Goldie (2005) 1 episode

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Julien, Max 1933 births 2022 deaths 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers American male screenwriters Screenwriters from Washington, D.C. African-American male writers African-American screenwriters