Mia Patel
The character of Chicken George in the 1977 miniseries Roots was portrayed by Ben Vereen. In the 1979 sequel Roots: The Next Generations, Chicken George was played by Ave Long. In the 2016 remake of the original miniseries, the character was portrayed by British newcomer Rege-Jean Page.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the actor who played Chicken George in Roots: The Next Generations | Ave Long |
| Year the actor played Chicken George | 1979 |
| Year Roots: The Next Generations aired | 1979 |
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What You'll Learn
- Chicken George was played by Ave Long in Roots: The Next Generations
- The character earned his nickname from his flamboyant personality and cockfighting skills
- Chicken George is the sole born of the third generation of the Kunta Kinte lineage
- He was the first member of the Kinte family to earn his freedom
- Chicken George was portrayed by British actor Rege-Jean Page in the 2016 remake
Chicken George was played by Ave Long in Roots: The Next Generations
Roots: The Next Generations is the sequel to the 1977 miniseries Roots, which was based on Alex Haley's 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The sequel first aired in 1979 and was followed by a second sequel, Roots: The Gift, a Christmas television film that first aired in 1988.
In the miniseries, Chicken George is the sole born of the third generation of the Kunta Kinte lineage. He is the first member of the Kinte family to earn his freedom. George gets his nickname from his flamboyant personality and cockfighting skills.
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The character earned his nickname from his flamboyant personality and cockfighting skills
Chicken George was portrayed in the 1977 television miniseries Roots by Ben Vereen. The character earned his nickname from his flamboyant personality and cockfighting skills.
George was born into slavery in the winter of 1806 in Caswell, North Carolina. He was the son of Kizzy, a slave, and her master, Tom Lea, who named him "George" after his first slave. At the age of 12, he was moved out of his mother's cabin to live at the gamecock pen with Uncle Mingo, who trained fighting roosters for the master. It was here that George developed a passion for cockfighting and began to hone his skills.
Around the age of 14 or 15, George started to travel with Moore and Mingo, and he won his first cockfight. By the age of 18, he had become an expert in cockfighting and was promoted by Lea as the new head trainer. George's success in cockfighting brought him wealth and fame, and he became known as the number one cockfighter of Caswell County.
In addition to his cockfighting prowess, George had a colourful and flamboyant personality. He was a ladies' man but eventually settled down with his wife, Matilda, a strong and faithful Christian slave woman. Together, they had eight children, including Tom and Lewis Murray.
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Chicken George is the sole born of the third generation of the Kunta Kinte lineage
Chicken George, also known as George Lea, is a character in the 1977 miniseries Roots, its 1979 sequel Roots: The Next Generations, and its 2016 remake. The character is based on a real person, who was an ancestor of author Alex Haley, whose novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family, inspired the original miniseries.
Chicken George is the son of Kizzy and her master, Tom Lea. He was born into slavery in the winter of 1806 in Caswell, North Carolina. His mother conceived him after being repeatedly raped by her new master, Tom Lea, following her arrival at the Lea Plantation from Virginia. Despite this, Kizzy loved and raised her son.
At the age of 12, Tom Lea moved George out of his mother's cabin to live at the gamecock pen with Uncle Mingo, who trained fighting roosters for the master. Around the age of 14 or 15, George started travelling with Moore and Mingo, and he won his first cockfight. By the age of 18, he had become an expert in cockfighting and was promoted by Lea as the new head trainer for cockfighting, as he recognised George's potential to bring him wealth and fame. George's trademark look included a black derby hat with rooster feathers and a green scarf.
In the Roots miniseries, Chicken George is in his mid-thirties when his mother Kizzy reveals that his master, Tom Lea, is also his father. Chicken George is the sole born of the third generation of the Kunta Kinte lineage, but he never met his African grandfather. He became the first member of the Kinte family to earn his freedom.
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He was the first member of the Kinte family to earn his freedom
Chicken George, born in 1806 in Caswell, North Carolina, was the son of Kizzy and her master, Tom Lea. He was named after his father's first slave, George. At the age of 12, he was moved out of his mother's cabin to live with Uncle Mingo, who trained fighting roosters for the master. George soon became an expert in cockfighting and earned the moniker "Chicken" George.
Chicken George became the best friend of his master, Moore, and travelled across the southern states of America with Tom Lea, winning most cockfights. However, he was conned out of money from some of these cockfights. Before a match against Squire James and Sir Eric Russell, Master Moore promised George that he would give him his freedom if they won. Unfortunately, they lost, and George was sent to England to train cocks for Sir Russell and to train more trainers. Moore promised to set George free upon his return and to keep the family together in his absence.
Chicken George was away for over 20 years, and during this time, Moore broke his promise and sold the rest of George's family except Kizzy. In 1861, Chicken George returned to the Moore plantation, only to find that his family had been sold off to Sam Harvey's plantation in Alamance County, North Carolina. He eventually reunited his family, but due to a law that stated that any free man who stayed for sixty days in a slave state would become a slave again, he had to pretend to be a giant black chicken once sixty days had passed to stay with his family.
Chicken George was eventually able to buy his freedom, becoming the first member of the Kinte family to do so. This paved the way for the rest of his family to live out of slavery. He settled in Tennessee, where he started a new life with his family.
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Chicken George was portrayed by British actor Rege-Jean Page in the 2016 remake
The Roots story is based on Alex Haley's novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family, which was set during and after the era of enslavement in the United States. The narrative follows the Kunta Kinte lineage, with Chicken George as the sole born of the third generation. Despite being half-white, George had darker skin, and his recessive genes would later show up in the Kinte family lineage.
The character of Chicken George is a colourful and flamboyant man with exceptional cockfighting skills. He is the first member of the Kinte family to earn his freedom. In the miniseries, he is in his mid-thirties when he almost kills Master Moore, and his mother, Kizzy, reveals that the master is his father.
The 2016 remake of the series aired on the History Channel and was well-received, just like the original series. The original Roots series received 37 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award.
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Frequently asked questions
Ave Long played Chicken George in the 1979 sequel Roots: The Next Generations.
In the 1977 television miniseries Roots, Chicken George was portrayed by Ben Vereen. In the 2016 remake, the character was played by British newcomer Rege-Jean Page.
Roots: The Next Generations is the first sequel to the 1977 miniseries Roots, which is based on Alex Haley's novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The sequel first aired in 1979, two years after the original series.
Yes, a second sequel called Roots: The Gift aired in 1988.
