Ex-Times Herald Writer Takes Charley Pride to Court Over Sale of Biography to Movies

By Robert Wilonsky Wed., Dec. 1 2010 at 8:17 AM

Categories: From the RTF Dept., Local Music

Right there, on the front page of Charley Pride's website, is the old, old news that "Charley Pride Film Expected to Shoot in 2009/10." But it's almost 2011, and that piece dates back to October 4, 2006, when Craig Brewer -- maker of Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan -- announced his vague plans to cast Terrence Howard as Pride, the would-be ballplayer signed to RCA Records by Chet Atkins who kissed an angel good mornin' and became country's crossover pop sensation in the late '60s and early '70s.

Since then, nothing. Brewer's next film is that Footloose remake for Paramount, due in theaters in October 2011, while Pride continues to live here when he's not touring North America or playing cruise ships and casinos. All that exists right now is a holding page on the Internet Movie Database for a 2012 movie titled Untitled Craig Brewer/Charley Pride Project.

But last week in Dallas County District Clerk, Pride's one-time collaborator, former Dallas Times Herald writer Jim Henderson, filed this suit over, among other things, the movie that's yet to materialize. Henderson, who co-authored 1994's Pride: The Charley Pride Story, claims that when Pride sold his life story to Paramount, he was in breach of contract. He also accuses Pride of "other wrongful conduct" related to the selling of books (available for $30 on Pride's website) "and other products in which Henderson has a legal interest," and says he's gone so far as to depose Pride to find out details about the deal with Paramount. But, says the suit, "It is still unknown to Henderson at this time exactly what Pride has done and how much revenue has been produced."

Henderson wants "at least $50,000."

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