Brian's Song is a 1971
ABC Movie of the WeekThe ABC Movie of the Week is a weekly television anthology series, featuring made-for-TV movies, that aired on the ABC network in various permutations from 1969 to 1975.-History:...
that recounts the details of the life of
Brian Piccolo (played by James Caan), a
Wake Forest UniversityWake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
football player stricken with terminal
cancerCancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
after turning pro, told through his friendship with
Chicago BearsThe Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
running backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
teammate and
Pro Football Hall of FameThe Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
r
Gale SayersGale Eugene Sayers also known as "The Kansas Comet", is a former professional football player in the National Football League who spent his entire career with the Chicago Bears....
(
Billy Dee WilliamsWilliam December "Billy Dee" Williams, Jr. is an American actor, artist, singer, and writer.-Early life:Williams was born in New York City, New York, the son of Loretta...
), who helps him through the difficult struggle. The production was such a success on
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television (November 30, 1971) that it was later shown in theaters, with a major
premiereA premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
; however, it was soon withdrawn due to a lack of business. Many critics have called the movie one of, if not the finest
telefilmA television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
ever made.
The movie is based on Sayers' account of his friendship with Piccolo and coping with Piccolo's illness in Sayers' autobiography,
I Am Third. The film was written by veteran screenwriter
William BlinnWilliam Frederick Blinn is an American screenwriter and television producer.-Career:Born in Toledo, Ohio, Blinn began his career in television in the 1960s. As a screenwriter, Blinn has written episodes of Rawhide, Here Come the Brides, Gunsmoke, The Rookies, and Fame...
, whose script, one Dallas television critic called, "highly restrained, steering clear of any overt sentimentality [yet conveying] the genuine affection the two men felt so deeply for each other."
Although based on a true story, the film did include some fictional scenes. One example was when
George HalasGeorge Stanley Halas, Sr. , nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears...
(played by
Jack WardenJack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
) told Gale Sayers that he wanted to bench Brian Piccolo when he suspected that there may be a problem affecting his performance. He later learned of Brian's cancer. In reality,
Jim DooleyJames William Dooley was a former American football player and coach. He is best remembered for his tenure in both capacities with the National Football League's Chicago Bears....
was the head coach at that time, as Halas had retired from the position following the 1968 season.
Cast
- James Caan as Brian Piccolo
- Billy Dee Williams
William December "Billy Dee" Williams, Jr. is an American actor, artist, singer, and writer.-Early life:Williams was born in New York City, New York, the son of Loretta...
as Gale SayersGale Eugene Sayers also known as "The Kansas Comet", is a former professional football player in the National Football League who spent his entire career with the Chicago Bears....
- Jack Warden
Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
as Coach George HalasGeorge Stanley Halas, Sr. , nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was a player, coach, owner and pioneer in professional American football. He was the iconic longtime leader of the NFL's Chicago Bears...
- Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares is an American actress and singer. Fabares is known for her roles as Donna Reed's oldest child, Mary Stone, on The Donna Reed Show , and as Craig T. Nelson's love interest and eventual wife, Christine Armstrong Fox, on the sitcom Coach. She also was Elvis...
as Joy Piccolo
- Judy Pace
Judy Lenteen Pace is an American stage and screen actress.-Career Biography:Pace became a familiar face in the 1970s on both the big and small screen, appearing in popular blaxploitation movies and popular television shows. She played a character on the soap opera One Life to Live...
as Linda Sayers
- Bernie Casey
Bernard Terry "Bernie" Casey is a professional actor who initially had a career as an interscholastic, intercollegiate and professional football player. Casey was also a record-breaking track and field athlete for Bowling Green State University...
as J.C. CarolineJames C. "J.C." Caroline is a former American football player. Caroline was a collegiate All-American, and played professionally for ten seasons in the National Football League, and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.Caroline played college football at the University of Illinois,...
- David Huddleston
David William Huddleston is an American actor, best known for his roles in Blazing Saddles, Santa Claus: The Movie and The Big Lebowski.-Early life:...
as Ed McCaskey
- Ron Feinberg
Ronald A. Feinberg was an American character actor and voice actor who appeared in films and on television. He can be seen playing the character Fellini opposite Don Johnson in the postapocalyptic film A Boy and His Dog. Ron made a number of appearance on Mission: Impossible...
as Doug AtkinsDouglas Leon Atkins is a former American football defensive end who played for the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints in the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Tennessee under legendary head coach Robert Neyland...
- Jack Concannon
John Joseph "Jack" Concannon, Jr. was an American football quarterback in the National Football League.-Playing career:...
as Himself
- Abe Gibron
Abraham Gibron was an American football coach and player. He is best remembered for his tenure as head coach of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He played in the NFL as an offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Bears...
as Himself
- Ed O'Bradovich
Edward O'Bradovich is a former American football defensive end in the NFL. Drafted by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round of the 1962 NFL Draft, he spent his entire ten-year career with the Bears...
as Himself
- Dick Butkus
Richard Marvin "Dick" Butkus is a former American football player for the Chicago Bears. He was drafted in 1965 and he is also widely regarded as one of the best and most durable linebackers of all time. Butkus starred as a football player for the University of Illinois and the Chicago Bears. He...
as Himself
- Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
as Themselves
Music
The musical theme to
Brian's Song, "The Hands of Time," was a popular tune during the early 1970s and has become a standard. The music for the film was by
Michel LegrandMichel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
, with lyrics to the song by
MarilynMarilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
and
Alan BergmanAlan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
. LeGrand's instrumental version of the theme song charted for eight weeks in 1972, peaking at #56. Nashville pianist
Floyd CramerFloyd Cramer was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville sound." He popularized the "slip note" piano style where an out-of-tune note slides effortlessly into the correct note...
performed a popular version of "The Hands of Time".
Awards and nominations
The film won an
Emmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Best Dramatic Program (1971–72).
William BlinnWilliam Frederick Blinn is an American screenwriter and television producer.-Career:Born in Toledo, Ohio, Blinn began his career in television in the 1960s. As a screenwriter, Blinn has written episodes of Rawhide, Here Come the Brides, Gunsmoke, The Rookies, and Fame...
won an Emmy for his
teleplayA teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...
, and
Jack WardenJack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
won for his performance as Coach Halas. Caan and Williams were both nominated for best leading actor.
Remake
Thirty years after its original airing, a remake was aired in
2001The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
on
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's
The Wonderful World of DisneyThe Walt Disney anthology television series refers to a television series which has been produced by the Walt Disney Company under several different titles from 1955 to 2008...
starring
Mekhi PhiferMekhi Thira Phifer is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his multi-year role as Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER and his co-starring role opposite Eminem in the feature film 8 Mile...
in Billy Dee Williams' original role as Sayers and
Sean MaherSean Maher is an American actor, best known for his role as Simon Tam in the science fiction television series Firefly and followup movie Serenity.-Early life:...
as Piccolo, the character originally played by James Caan.