Today in history, June 10th, 2004… singer and pianist Ray Charles died of liver disease in his Beverly Hills home at age 73.
A few months later, October 2004, Universal Pictures released the Taylor Hackford-directed film, Ray, which centered on the life and career of the legendary musician – a film for which Jamie Fox was nominated and won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Worth noting, in that same year, Jamie was also nominated in the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar category, for his performance in Collateral, only the 10th person in the history of the Academy Awards to be nominated in more than one category in the same year.
It was also one of those freak years in which 2 black actors were nominated in any same category; Don Cheadle was also nominated in the Best Actor category that year, for his work in Hotel Rwanda.
Of course, Ray is available on DVD and Blu-ray;
Watch a scene from the film below, featuring Kerry Washington, who Jamie would pair up with, 8 years later, in Django Unchained.
And underneath that, watch Jamie’s Oscar acceptance speech.
Ray Charles would’ve been 83 years old today:
