Max Julien

Max Julien (born in 1933) is an American actor, sculptor, and clothes designer best known for his role as Goldie in the 1973 blaxploitation film, The Mack.[1] Julien also appeared in Def Jam's How to Be a Player and has guest starred on TV shows such as The Mod Squad, The Bold Ones: The Protectors, and One on One.

Max Julien
Born (1945-01-01) January 1, 1945
Washington, D.C., U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1966–2005
Known forGoldie – The Mack
Height6' 2" (1.88 m)
Spouse(s)
Arabella Chavers
​
(m. 1991)​
Partner(s)Vonetta McGee (1974–77)

He began his career on the stage in New York's Off-Broadway circuit including Joseph Papp's Shakespeare-In-The-Park. Moving westward to Hollywood, he landed co-starring roles with Jack Nicholson in Psych-Out and Candice Bergen 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, which starred actress Tamara Dobson 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 movie critic Judith Crist stated that Julien was "a standout in a standout cast." Raoul Gripenwaldt from the Santa Monica Evening Outlook once wrote: "Max Julien's portrayal of Johnny Wells in Paramount's Uptight could very well result in an Academy Award." The Hollywood Reporter chimed in: "Max Julien creates a memorable piece of reality." As a reward he was invited to Europe to discuss film possibilities.

  • Curren$y'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 sample the intro song on his “ “operation : get down” album on the song - Jockin my style”Lloyd Banks, Gangrene, Big K.R.I.T. and Do or Die. Multiple R&B, hip-hop and Rock artists (i.e., P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock) admittedly fashioned their images after Max's character from the film.
  • Director Quentin Tarantino scripted a film, True Romance, that shows Julien in a clip while Christian Slater says "I know that film. It's The Mack starring Max Julien."
  • Julien appeared as "Goldie" in an episode of UPN's One on One.

Personal life

Julien was in a live-in relationship with actress Vonetta McGee, who appeared with him in the western action film Thomasine & Bushrod, which was intended as a counterpart to the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, during the early-to-mid 1970s. He married Arabella Chavers in 1991. The two live in Los Angeles.

Filmography

References
  1. Canby, Vincent (April 5, 1973). "Film: 'The Mack' Opens:Max Julien Stars in a Black Melodrama". The New York Times.
  2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069890/
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