Remember the actor who played Michael Jackson in the 1992 mini-series, The Jacksons: An American Dream? He was handpicked by MJ himself to play that role; and although most of us never knew his name, many of us remember his face from what became the only role that he was predominately known for in his acting career.

The thing that is news to a lot of us is that just like Michael Jackson, this brotha — whose name is Wylie Draper — is no longer here with us either. He sadly passed away at a very young age, soon after the Jacksons’ mini-series aired on television. He had no clue that his days were numbered at the time that he was filming the ’92 movie…but we now know that sadly,  he soon learned that they were.

Wylie Hughes Draper Jr. was born May 5, 1969 in West Virginia. Word on the Old School curb is that as early as age ten, Wylie had already proven himself to be a superstar in the making, oftentimes dancing like MJ at his brother, Desmond’s skating rink parties, and grabbing all of the attention.

As a high school teen, Wylie dabbled in artistic expression, and as a football player for Northside High School in his hometown. While attending Pointe Park College to hone his skills as a performer, Wylie worked as the lead dancer at Disney World, and also as the lead entertainer on a Norwegian cruise line. This was around the same time that he auditioned for the role of portraying Michael Jackson in The Jacksons: An American Dream, and landed the gig.

Sadly he passed away one year later, succumbing to a rare form of leukemia on December 20, 1993. Wylie passed away without much “fanfare,” but many of us did enjoy one of the first movies depicting Micheal Jackson. So we thank and salute Wylie Draper for blessing us with his talents. Continue to rest well king.

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The post R.I.P. To The Guy Who Played Michael Jackson, We Didn’t Know He Died Suddenly appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Marlon Jackson’s 39 year old son was arrested six times within 6 years and we’ve got the mugshots to prove it. When we first found this tidbit of info out about Marlon Jr., the main question that came to mind was ‘Why in the world is this happening to the son of music royalty, the son of the most iconic musical family in music history, the nephew of the biggest musical icon in the world?!!’

Embed from Getty Images

And we couldn’t quite come up with a logical answer that was justifiable enough to make one say, ‘Oh okay, NOW I get it.’

MARLON JACKSON JR. WENT FROM ADORABLE KID, TO UNFORTUNATE SITUATIONS IN HIS ADULT LIFE

The Jackson siblings and their family seems to have, like, a million kids, so we understand why many probably forgot Marlon Jr. even existed. Therefore, we’ll backtrack for a second, before we get into his arrest record, just to clarify where he comes from. For starters, what deserves the biggest hand clap of it all is the fact that Marlon Jr.’s parents, Marlon Sr. and Carol Anne Parker, have managed to do something that most of the Jackson siblings and actually most other celebrities haven’t been able to do and that is remain married for 46 years!

Marlon Jackson Jr.’s arrest records date back to 2010 and here are his mugshots. Interestingly he goes from sad to happy to frustrated in his mugshots…check ’em out below…

MARLON JACKSON JR. – ARREST #1

September 5, 2010- Charges: Driving while license suspended/revoked; Passing and EM vehicle; no license plate; in Duluth, GA

ARREST #2

October 26, 2010- Charges: Violation of probation; in Duluth, GA

ARREST #3

August 1, 2014- Marlon was arrested for criminal trespass (misdemeanor) in Decatur, GA

ARREST #4

August 1, 2014- Marlon was arrested for criminal trespass (misdemeanor) in Decatur, GA

ARREST #5

November 1, 2015- Charges: Failure to appear -List original charge and DOA-;Felony;Misdemeanor; in Decatur, GA

Arrest #…Not Sure?
And then there is this one other mugshot, but we have no additional info on when, nor where it was taken, so we’ll just call this his ‘Bonus shot’:

We know things happen sometimes in the American police/justice system, especially when it comes to Black males. But now that I got that disclaimer out of the way, I have to be real with y’all: when you’re dealing with a case of a guy who comes from a very prestigious family, like the Jacksons, one of two things oftentimes happen:

(1) They are being targeted by law enforcement for being perceived as the “privileged kid’ by a hating police officer.

Or (2) They are in fact a ‘privileged kid’ who may be having a hard time building their own identity outside of their famous relatives’ shadow. So they instead act out. We’ve seen many celebrity children do that- ranging from Chaka Khan’s son,  to actor, Tom Hanks son.

So while there is an understanding for the offspring of these legends, at some point the kids have to start taking responsibility for their own lives. Marlon Jackson Jr.’s charges are all pretty much small change, thank goodness, but that doesn’t negate the fact that he probably should reconsider changing his actions, environment, friends, whatever he needs to do to stop building his arrest record.

Source

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Vanessa Williams and her mother, Helen Williams
Vanessa Williams and her mother, Helen, are looking lovely. Vanessa said that her Ugly Betty character “Whilemina’s” no-nonsense attitude came from her mother. And that iron will and attitude is what helped Vanessa recover from the Penthouse Magazine scandal that ironically launched her career – when she was forced to give up her crown as the first African-American to hold the title of Miss America.

She said she’s always loved that her mother gave her the hardcore truth and after the scandal her mom told her she was “too trusting [of others] just like her Father,” (referring to Vanessa was talked into doing the Penthouse spread by those she trusted, only to immediately realize she’d “made a mistake”)
[Source: npr.org]

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