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| * Randy Roberts |
| * "Joe Louis: America's Hero … Betrayed": |
February 21, 2008
Sports historian to appear in HBO documentary, live interview
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - |
"Joe Louis: America's Hero ... Betrayed" will air at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on HBO. Randy Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History, also will participate in a live panel discussion about Louis that will be moderated by sportscaster Jim Lampley at New York's Madison Square Garden. Following the panel, Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov will compete in the first heavyweight unification title fight since 1999.
Louis, also known as the "Brown Bomber," is considered one of boxing's greatest heavyweights.
"In the documentary, I talk about where he was born, where he came from him, his big fights, his income tax problems and what he means to America," Roberts says. "He was the first black athlete who was adored by all in America. Through the history of boxing you can look at the history of race relations. Louis was far more than just a boxer, he was an important galvanizing force."
Roberts has made more than 50 appearances on television documentaries and films in the past 20 years for the History Channel, ESPN Classic, HBO, BBC, PBS, E!TV and on the ABC, CBS and NBC networks. As a pop culture historian, Roberts often is quoted in national media and appears on nationally syndicated radio shows. He is a regular on History Channel's "Reel To Real," and he also served as a consultant and on-camera expert for the Emmy-Award winning series "10 Days that Unexpectedly Changed America" and the award-winning Ken Burns documentary "Unforgivable Blackness."
In 2006 Roberts was named the Indiana Professor of the Year.
Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Source: Randy Roberts, (765) 494-0040, rroberts@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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