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Jon Brewer

Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark

Documentaries

Music: Jazz & Blues: Jazz

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

23/05/2014

BBC Four - Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark

Film about singer Nat King Cole using his journals and interviews with family and friends.

Documentary about crooner Nat King Cole, the only black TV star in Hollywood at a time when America groaned under the weight of racial segregation and prejudice.

Nat King Cole was the only black television star in Hollywood at a time when America groaned under the weight of racial segregation and prejudice. Yet he possessed a natural talent so great that these issues were seemingly swept to one side to allow him to become one of the greatest jazz icons of all time. However, behind closed doors those around him were trying to think of a way to package him as something he was not: bi-white.  

This candid account of what really happened in and around his 'fairytale' life is taken from his private journals, interviews with his widow Maria and contributions from other family members, Tony Bennett, Buddy Greco, Harry Belafonte, Nancy Wilson, Sir Bruce Forsyth, George Benson, Aaron Neville, Johnny Mathis and many more. 

Featuring archive never seen before, it reveals Nat King Cole's feelings behind his ultimate calling as a 'beacon of hope' to the legions of the oppressed.

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