Ray (2004) Jamie Foxx Ray Charles Kerry Washington Della Bea Robinson Regina King Margie Hendricks Clifton Powell Jeff Brown Harry J. Lennix Joe Adams Bokeem Woodbine Fathead Newman Aunjanue Ellis Mary Ann Fisher Sharon Warren Aretha Robinson C. J. Sanders Young Ray Robinson Curtis Armstrong Ahmet Ertegun Richard Schiff Jerry Wexler Larenz Tate Quincy Jones Terrence Howard Gossie McKee David Krumholtz Milt Shaw Wendell Pierce Wilbur Brassfield Chris Thomas King Lowell Fulsom Thomas Jefferson Byrd Jimmy Rick Gomez Tom Dowd Denise Dowse Marlene Andres Warwick Davis Oberon Patrick Bauchau Dr Hacker Directed by: Taylor Hackford Produced by: William J. Immerman, Jaime Rucker King (II), Stuart Benjamin Born in a poor town in Georgia, Ray Charles went blind at the age of seven shortly after witnessing his younger brother's accidental death. Inspired by a fiercely independent mother who insisted he make his own way in the world, Charles found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered incorporating gospel, country, jazz and orchestral influences into his inimitable style. As he revolutionized the way people appreciated music, he simultaneously fought segregation in the very clubs that launched him and championed artists' rights within the corporate music business. ============ Ray Charles has the distinction of being both a national treasure and an international phenomenon. By the early 1960's Ray Charles had accomplished his dream. He'd come of age musically. He'd made it to Carnegie Hall. The hit records "Georgia," "Born to Lose" successively kept climbing to the top of the charts. He'd made his first triumphant European concert tour in 1960 (a feat which, except for 1965, he's repeated at least once a year ever since). He had taken virtually every form of popular music and broken through its boundaries with such awe inspiring achievements as the LP's "Genius Plus Soul Equals Jazz" and "Modern Sounds in Country & Western." Rhythm & blues (or "race music" as it had been called) became universally respectable through his efforts. Jazz found a mainstream audience it had never previously enjoyed. And country & western music began to chart an unexpected course to general acceptance, then worldwide popularity. And along the way Ray Charles was instrumental in the invention of rock & roll. Born in a poor African American town in central Florida, Ray Charles went blind at the age of 7. With the staunch support of his determined single mother, he developed the fierce resolve, wit and incredible talent that would eventually enable him to overcome not only Jim Crow Racism and the cruel prejudices against the blind, but also discover his own sound which revolutionized American popular music. Nonetheless, as Ray's unprecedented fame grew, so did his weakness for drugs and women, until they threatened to strip away the very things he held most dear. This little known story of Ray Charles' meteoric rise from humble beginnings, his successful struggle to excel in a sighted world and his eventual defeat of his own personal demons make for an inspiring and unforgettable true story of human triumph. ============ Soul singer Ray Charles' life transpires on-screen, from his humble beginnings in Georgia, where he went blind at the age of seven, to his pre-fame life touring the South, and on to his career as one of the most enduring, inimitable performers in modern music. ============ The true life story of legendary blues singer Ray Charles from loosing his eyesight in early childhood, to his rising career during the 1950s and 1960s, and his problems with racism, drug abuse, failed relationships and his ideas to change the pace music by combining soul and gospel music.