Foxx Wants a B-Day Present for 'Tookie'

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Foxx Wants a B-Day Present for 'Tookie'

Monday, October 31, 2005

By Roger Friedman

Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx turns 38 on Dec. 13, and there is only one
birthday present he wants from California Gov. (and fellow actor)
Arnold Schwarzenegger: clemency for Stan "Tookie" Williams.

Williams is an acclaimed author who has been mentioned as a
candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. He's also a convicted murderer
who is set to be executed on Foxx's birthday after 24 years on death
row.

"We can't let it happen," Foxx told me last night at the premiere
of his new film, "Jarhead." "We've got to do everything we can to
get the word out. Do you know they've collected nearly 30,000
signatures so far?"

Williams was sentenced to death in 1981 for the 1979 murder of a
Los Angeles area 7-Eleven manager, and, shortly thereafter, three
other people at a motel. He was already infamous at the time for
founding the Los Angeles street gang the Crips, who were responsible
for hundreds of deaths.

No one is suggesting that Williams be let out of jail, but in 1992,
after two Nobel Peace Prize nominations and one for literature, a
judge recommended clemency rather than execution.

Williams, who's 52 and has lived more than half his life in prison,
was the subject of 2004's masterful made-for-TV film called
"Redemption."

Vondie Curtis-Hall directed a pre-"Ray" Foxx as Williams and Lynn
Whitfield as Barbara Bectel, the journalist who became his lifeline
to the outside world.

Did you miss this movie the first time around? I know I did. It was
made for F/X on cable, but it should have been in theaters.

Williams has been on death row since 1981. He's written - with
Bectel - nine children's books preaching peace. And he's had a
steady stream of celebrity support (Winnie Mandela even visited him
in jail - CCH Pounder plays her in the movie).

Among Williams' awards: President George W. Bush gave him the
Presidential Call to Service Award this year for his volunteer
efforts to help youth (many observers think Bush wasn't informed
about Williams' past was when he bestowed the award).

Foxx is determined to do something to keep Williams from the death
chamber; we will probably hear more from him as the date draws near.

And yes, Foxx is correct: a Web site has already produced nearly
28,000 signatures that have been sent to Schwarzenegger.