''The Father Clements Story'' is a 1987 American

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

about the life of Father

George Clements George Harold Clements (January 26, 1932 – November 25, 2019) was a Black Catholic priest who, in 1981, became the first Catholic priest in the Chicago area to adopt a child. He was also instrumental in the Black Catholic Movement, which so ...

, an African-American Roman Catholic priest who became famous for being the first United States priest to legally adopt a child. The movie starred actors Lou Gossett, Jr.,

Malcolm-Jamal Warner Malcolm-Jamal Warner (born August 18, 1970) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Theodore Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show'', which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series a ...

, and

Carroll O'Connor John Carroll O'Connor (August 2, 1924 – June 21, 2001) was an American actor, producer, and director whose television career spanned over four decades. He became a lifelong member of the Actors Studio in 1971. O'Connor found widespread fame a ...

. Gossett, Jr. played Clements, Warner played Clements' adopted son, and O'Connor played Cardinal John Cody, the Archbishop of Chicago. The movie was directed by Edwin Sherin. The film score was composed by

Mark Snow Mark Snow (born Martin Fulterman; August 26, 1946) is an American composer for film and television. Among his most famous compositions is the theme music for science fiction television series ''The X-Files''. The theme reached no. 2 on the UK Si ...

Plot

Frustrated when his call for volunteers to adopt troubled black youths gets little response from his congregation, a priest in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

decides to adopt himself, landing himself in hot water with his superiors in the Church..

References

1987 films 1987 television films 1980s biographical films African-American films Films with screenplays by Ted Tally Films scored by Mark Snow Films about adoption Films about Catholic priests American television films 1980s English-language films {{US-tv-drama-film-stub