She had to be a black woman as white as cotton and be able to carry a mini-series on her entire shoulders.'

'Every black female in show business auditioned for this part,' said Mark Wolper. This mini-series focuses primarily on the personal quest of Queen Haley, with Halle Berry starring as the troubled woman from age 16 to 75. 'Queen' showcases the talents of top actors such as Ann-Margret, Ossie Davis, Danny Glover and Sada Thompson, but there are few memorable characters in 'Queen' as there were in 'Roots,' well remembered for Kunta Kinte and Chicken George. When asked about complaints from prominent actors in 'Queen' that there were no African-American writers, producers, production people or drivers used during the four-month location shoot, Wolper said, 'There were superior black crews that we wanted that were not available because they were doing features.' My obligation, especially with his death before producing, was to fulfill his vision, to cast it properly and get the right crew.' He had two minor revisions, historical notes, which we made immediately. 'It was in that meeting, myself and director John Erman gave him the final version of the shooting script. 'I had lunch with Alex on the afternoon of the day he died,' said Mark Wolper from his California office.

Mark Wolper-producer of 'Roots: The Next Generation' and whose father, David, was the executive producer of 'Roots'-had the heavy burden of bringing Haley's vision of his paternal grandmother to the small screen. 'You didn't realize how brutal and inhuman slavery was.' 'When `Roots' came out, all those fights broke out,' recalled Guy, who will leave 'A Different World' at the end of this season and record her second album for Warner Brothers this summer. Guy was attending the Northside School of Performing Arts in Atlanta when the mini-series 'Roots' first rivited the nation to their television sets for eight consecutive nights in January, 1977, garnering an all-time ratings high for a series.

The real queen alex haley