Guns firing, cannons blasting, and thousands of Americans dying sum up the horrific conditions during the Civil War that are depicted so vividly in Andrew McLaglen’s momentous Western saga, Shenandoah.
Sentimental as well as action-packed, the film is graced by an all-star cast of sensitive performers including James Stewart, Rosemary Forsyth, Glenn Corbett, Katherine Ross, and Doug McClure. Eugene Jackson III, in particular, had the responsibility of representing the entire black race. As the young slave, “Gabriel,” Jackson’s integrity, loyalty, and ultimately, his heroism, made him Shenandoah’s champion of human decency.
Shenandoah was not Jackson’s first film, nor his last. Guided by his loving parents, Eugene II and Susie, Jackson was raised in front of the camera. As an adult, Jackson’s fascination for the medium led him to further his motion picture career by working directly through its lens. Today, his resume of camera work is impressive, and includes classic television programs like Emergency, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Columbo, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Mork and Mindy, as well as the more recent hits, Hearts Afire, Hunter, Cheers, Hill Street Blues, and Seinfeld.
Incidentally, Paramount Studios, where Jackson has distinguished himself as a cameraman, is where he got his start as an actor in 1953.
In those days, Jackson’s father (in show business since 1924—he was the beloved “Pineapple” of the Our Gang comedies!) was a respected actor………….