Thursday, October 05, 2006

Tamara Dobson -- 'Cleopatra Jones' -- Dies!

This has nothing really to do with boxing but it does have a Beltway angle. Even if it didn't, I'd post this anyway though.

Yesterday, I turned 43 years old. In the last few months, the world lost two icons that were very important to me. I posted a piece about the passing of trumpeter Maynard Ferguson and the importance of that.

Now comes word that Tamara Dobson -- known to the world as "Cleopatra Jones"-- passed away this past Monday in her hometown of Baltimore. She died from complications of pnuemonia and multiple sclerosis.

If you are my age, you probably have seen Dobson's two Cleopatra Jones movies -- "Cleopatra Jones" and "Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold" -- and you know how much she meant to the African-American community.

Dobson, like her slightly more famous contemporary, Pam Grier, was a major sex symbol to men and a symbol of empowerment for women. Here was this 6'2" stunningly beautiful woman using her kung fu and her intelligence to defeat the criminals. Her movies weren't brilliant cinematic works, but the impact that Dobson made in that role should never be overlooked or forgotten.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was just thinking about her the other day and you are so right, she was very sexy indeed. A little bit of trivia on her. Cleopatra Jones was written by another actor of blackexplotation movies in the 70's named Max Julien who played "Goldie" In The Mack. He was great in that role.
The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the 6'2" Dobson as the tallest leading lady ever in film.


Tamara will live on through her movies for sure and may the Lord bless her soul. Thanks for sharing this info because I had no clue she had passed away.