 |
Network: HBO
HBO delves into the life of
Marion Barry, Washington, D.C.’s infamous former mayor in the
documentary “The Nine Lives of Marion Barry.” A little-known fact about
the once-disgraced politician is that he’s the son of a sharecropper
who was working on his Ph.D. in chemistry when he became a civil rights
activist. The native Mississippian survived a gunshot wound to the
chest in 1977, at the hands of Muslims. In January 1990, at the height
of his career, Barry was videotaped smoking crack in a hotel room; he
was subsequently sentenced to six months in prison. After his release,
he returned to the political scene and was re-elected mayor for a
fourth term in 1994. “Nine Lives” includes archival footage, interviews
of Barry and his ex-wife, Effi; Rev. Jesse Jackson; Barry’s campaign
advisor, Marshall Brown; deputy Mayor Ivanhoe Donaldson; and others. –yvette caslin
