Leadbelly
7.2
“You can't bury a black legend like Leadbelly!”
The life of Blues and folk singer Huddie Leadbetter, nicknamed Leadbelly is recounted. Covering the good times and bad from his 20s to 40s. Much of that time was spent on chain gangs in the south. Even in prison he became well known for the songs he had composed and sung during and before the time he spent there.
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Cast
36 people
Roger E. Mosley
Huddie Ledbetter
Known for
Magnum, P.I.
Unlawful Entry
James Brodhead
John Lomax
Known for
Piranha
John McDonald
Tom Pruitt
Leonard Wrentz
Guard
No other roles listed
Ernie Hudson
Archie
Known for
Oz
The Crow
Dana Manno
Margaret Judd
No other roles listed
William Wintersole
Sheriff Gibbons
Known for
Coma
Paul Benjamin
Wes Ledbetter
Known for
Escape from Alcatraz
Do the Right Thing
Lynn Hamilton
Sally Ledbetter
Known for
The Vanishing
Sanford and Son
Carole Lamond
Laura May
Also in
The Learning Tree
Melba Englander
Evaline
Also in
Smiling Fish & Goat On Fire
Stand By Your Man
Pamela Singleton
Fat Bessie
No other roles listed
Gordon Parks Director · Ernest Kinoy Writer Fred Karlin Composer
United States release May 28, 1976 · Produced in United States · Production Brownstone Productions, Zeeuwse Maatschappij N.V.
Production
David Paradine Productions
Production
Brownstone Productions
Production
Zeeuwse Maatschappij N.V.
Production
Paramount Pictures
Studio
United States
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
United States · April 7, 1976
Premiere · USA Film Festival
United States · May 28, 1976
Theatrical · New York City, New York
Brazil
December 11, 2025 · Limited theatrical · IMS Paulista (Gordon Parks: A América Sou Eu)
Italy
June 4, 1983 · TV · Rete A
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Some details come from TheTVDB.