Oh Lawd! Not Nipsey!!!

For those of you who don't know, growing up, my favorite movie was The Wiz. You know - the black version of The Wizard of Oz, starring Dianna Ross as Dorothy, Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, and Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man. Apparently, my parents took me to see the movie when I was about 1 or 2 years old and I sang the whole way through, providing the audience with much entertainment (keep in mind that The Wiz was on Broadway first, so we had the musical soundtrack before the movie came out).

Sadly, one of my favorite actors when I was small died a few days ago. Nipsey Russell also starred in Car 54 Where Are You (way before my time) and apparently was a game show frequenter. I'll always remember him as the Tin Man singing "slide some oil to me." Nipsey was 80 years old.

As a sidenote, Luther Vandross, who also recently passed, wrote my favorite song from The Wiz, Everybody Rejoice (can you feel a brand new day!!!!).