BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " FRED BERRY " WAS AN AMERICAN ACTOR AND STREET DANCER : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

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Fred Berry

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Fred Berry
Born	Fred Allen Berry March 19, 1951 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Died	October 21, 2003 (aged 52) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Stroke
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park,Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, street dancer

Fred Rerun Berry (March 19, 1951 – October 21, 2003) was an American actor and street dancer. He was best known for the role of Fred "Rerun" Stubbs on the popular 1970s television show What's Happening!!.^[1][2]

Early life

Berry was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

Career

Before starring on What's Happening!!, he was a member of the Los Angeles-based dance troupe The Lockers, with which he appeared on the third episode of Saturday Night Live. He also appeared on the dance music show Soul Train, and was featured in the program's signature line dance segment doing the memorable early 1970s dance step "the slo-mo".^[3] What's Happening!! lasted from 1976 to 1979.

Berry was a millionaire by age 29.^{[citation needed]} After the show ended, Berry, weighing over 300 lbs,^{[citation needed]} had trouble finding work because he was typecast with the Rerun character. Eventually, however, he came to embrace his typecasting, and made his peace with it as the best means to maintain his celebrity. In public, he was often seen wearing the red beret and suspenders that are part of the Rerun character.

During the 1980s, Berry battled drug addiction and alcoholism. He revived the character of Rerun in the series What's Happening Now!!, but he was only on that show for a year. Berry asked for more money than the rest of the cast (believing he was the reason people tuned in).^[4] Berry's widow, Essie Berry, told Urbanite magazine at Georgia State University that their unwillingness to pay Fred Berry his due in both shows led to their early cancellations. During the 1990s, Berry became a Baptist minister^{[citation needed]} and lost 100 lbs after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.^{[citation needed]} He made a living during this time mostly through making public appearances as Rerun.

Berry made a brief appearance in Insane Clown Posse's film Big Money Hustlas as Bootleg Greg, a merchandise counterfeiter. In 1996, he made an appearance in Less Than Jake's video "Dopeman" (which was never aired on television). In the second season of the comedy television series Scrubs, he appeared in his iconic Rerun suspenders and beret in an extended dance sequence fantasized by Dr. John "JD" Dorian (which included a dozen others also wearing the same outfit).

For at least the Spring and Summer of 2001, and for an unknown duration, Berry toured with the UniverSoul Circus as his Rerun character. At that time, he was their sole celebrity performer and received accolades from the cast and circus patrons alike.^{[citation needed]}

Berry appeared in the Snoop Dogg video "It's A Doggy Dogg World", which was a tribute to the black culture of the 1970s. He performed his legendary dance moves in a Soul Train line. He appeared in fellow Locker Toni Basil's music video "Shopping From A to Z". Berry returned to the screen in 1998 in the action movie In the Hood and appeared inDickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003), playing himself in a song at the end. His final role was in In the Land of Merry Misfits, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Personal life

Berry was married six times to four different women, two of whom he married twice.^[5]

Berry had legally changed his middle name to Rerun after his success on What's Happening!!.

His daughter Portia Berry-Allen was in a Safe Auto commercial under the name "Lady Rerun".

Death

On October 21, 2003, Berry died at his Los Angeles home, where he was recovering from a stroke.^[6]

Filmography

• Hammer (1972)
• What's Happening!! – Fred "Rerun" Stubbs (1976–1979)
• Battle of the Network Stars III (1977)
• Vice Squad (1982)
• A Stroke of Genius (1984)
• Alice – 1 episode (1984)
• What's Happening Now!! (1985–1986)
• "I Wonder Who She's Seeing Now" – The Temptations (1988)
• The Howard Stern Show (1992)
• In Living Color (1993), "East Hollywood Squares" on YouTube – Himself
• Martin (TV series) (1993) – 1 episode – Himself
• Murder Was the Case: The Movie (1995)
• In The Hood (1998)
• Big Money Hustlas (2000)
• The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-Boy (2001) – Himself
• Bum Runner (2002)
• Scrubs – 1 episode – Fred "Rerun" Stubbs (2002)
• I Love the '70s (2003)
• Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)
• In the Land of Merry Misfits (2005)