Malcolm X: Portrayals in film and on stage. Part 18.

The 1992 film Malcolm X was directed by Spike Lee and based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It starred Denzel Washington, with Angela Bassett as Betty Shabazz and Al Freeman, Jr., as Elijah Muhammad. Critic Roger Ebert and director Martin Scorsese both named the film one of the ten best of the 1990s

Washington had previously played the part of Malcolm X in the 1981 Off Broadway play When the Chickens Came Home to Roost. Other actors who have portrayed Malcolm X include:

James Earl Jones, in the 1977 film The Greatest.
Dick Anthony Williams, in the 1978 television miniseries King and the 1989 American Playhouse production of the Jeff Stetson play The Meeting. Al Freeman, Jr., in the 1979 television miniseries Roots:

The Next Generations.Morgan Freeman, in the 1981 television movie Death of a Prophet.

Ben Holt, in the 1986 opera X (The Life and Times of Malcolm X).
Gary Dourdan, in the 2000 television movie King of the World.
Joe Morton, in the 2000 television movie Ali: An American Hero.
Mario Van Peebles, in the 2001 film Ali.