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A.D. Amorosi Though regarded by cinephiles as one of the architects of the “New Hollywood” largely because of moody character studies like 1970’s “Five Easy Pieces,” filmmaker Bob Rafelson — who died Saturday at 89 — will also always be adored for his co-creation and production of the decidedly less moody, madcap television series “The Monkees,” and for further directing that makeshift band in the comically avant-garde 1968 film “Head.”Rafelson is very fondly remembered by vocalist and drummer Micky Dolenz, the final surviving member of the Monkees, who shared his thoughts about Rafelson’s role in the creation and development of the group with Variety.  A wildly silly sitcom about a faux teeny-bop band meant that its producer-showrunners, Rafelson and Bert Schneider (who died in 2011), had to find a willing quartet of actor-musicians.

EXCLUSIVE: Alessandro Nivola has joined Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton in The Room Next Door, the first English-language film from Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. 

We’re getting the first look at André Holland as Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton in Apple’s upcoming limited series The Big Cigar (See photo above). The six-episode limited drama series is set to premiere globally May 17 with the first two episodes, followed by new episodes every Friday through June 14, on Apple TV+.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple TV+’s Huey P. Newton series The Big Cigar has rounded out its cast, with Jaime Ray Newman (Dopesick), Noah Emmerich (Dark Winds), John Doman (City on a Hill), Chris Brochu (Zero Contact) and newcomer Breton Edwards Allen coming aboard in recurring roles. André Holland leads the cast, with Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, PJ Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Jordane Christie, Moses Ingram, Olli Haaskivi and Glynn Turman also set to star, as previously announced.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy winner Glynn Turman (Women of the Movement) has joined Apple TV+’s Huey P. Newton limited series The Big Cigar as a recurring guest star. He’ll be part of an ensemble led by André Holland, which also includes Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, PJ Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Jordane Christie, Moses Ingram and Olli Haaskivi, as previously announced.

EXCLUSIVE: Olli Haaskivi (Oppenheimer) is the latest actor to join Apple TV+’s six-episode Huey P. Newton series The Big Cigar in a recurring role. He joins an ensemble fronted by André Holland, which also includes the previously announced Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, PJ Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Jordane Christie and Moses Ingram.

Bert Schneider, his partner in the independent production company Raybert, began kicking around the idea of a television show about a band “more interested in having fun than making a living”. Their Variety ad seeking “4 insane boys, [aged] 17-21” was answered by 437 hopefuls, and the successful applicants – Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork – were dispatched on a six-week improv course. The show’s goofily knowing house style did not arrive instantly – a pilot polled direly in testing.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy nominee Moses Ingram (Obi-Wan Kenobi) has joined Apple TV+’s Huey P. Newton series The Big Cigar in a recurring role. She joins an ensemble led by André Holland, which also includes Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, PJ Byrne, Marc Menchaca and Jordane Christie.

EXCLUSIVE: Jordane Christie (Why Women Kill) has signed on for a recurring role in Apple TV+’s limited series The Big Cigar. He joins an ensemble led by André Holland, which also includes Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, PJ Byrne, Marc Menchaca and Moses Ingram, as previously announced.

Bob Rafelson, the director, producer and writer who brought a European sensibility to American filmmaking with "Five Easy Pieces" in 1970, died Saturday evening at his home in Aspen, Colorado. He was 89 years old. Rafelson’s death was confirmed by his former personal assistant of 38 years, Jolene Wolff, who worked under Rafelson’s production banner Marmont Productions.

has died. He was 89.Rafelson died on Saturday at his home in Aspen, Colorado, according to multiple  reports.

Rafelson was one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s, working with stars like Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern and Jessica Lange. With “Five Easy Pieces” in 1970, Rafelson earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, with Nicholson earning a Best Actor nomination in a career-launching performance as an oil rig worker forced to reunite with his upper-class musician family after hearing the news that his father is dying.

Micky Dolenz, the drummer of the mid-1960s formed-for-TV band The Monkees that became a pop music staple and Emmy winners to boot, took to Twitter on Sunday to remember Bob Rafelson, one of the co-creators of the musical show.

The Hollywood Reporter.Along with his late partner Bert Schneider, Rafelson co-created the classic NBC sitcom The Monkees, which premiered in 1966. The pair had been inspired by The Beatles‘ 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night, and they decided to develop a TV series about a fictional band.Rafelson served as a producer and later executive producer on the show, and also directed several episodes.

Bob Rafelson, a director, producer and writer who brought a European sensibility to American filmmaking with “Five Easy Pieces” in 1970, died Saturday evening at his home in Aspen, Colo. He was 89 years old.Rafelson’s death was confirmed by his former personal assistant of 38 years, Jolene Wolff, who worked under Rafelson’s production banner Marmont Productions.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple’s upcoming limited series “The Big Cigar” has cast P.J. Byrne in a series regular role, Variety has learned exclusively.The six-episode series stars André Holland as Black Panther leader Huey P.

EXCLUSIVE: Marc Menchaca (Ozark) has signed on to star alongside André Holland, Don Cheadle, Alessandro Nivola and Tiffany Boone in the six-episode limited series The Big Cigar, centered on Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton (Holland), for Apple TV+.

EXCLUSIVE: Alessandro Nivola is set to co-star alongside André  Holland in Apple TV+’s The Big Cigar, a new, six episode limited series that will chronicle the story of Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton’s escape to Cuba. The new series will be showrun and executive produced by NAACP Image Award winner Janine Sherman Barrois , with Holland starring as Newton, and Don Cheadle on board to direct and executive produce the first two episodes. The growing ensemble cast also includes Tiffany Boone.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterTiffany Boone is set to star opposite André Holland in the Apple limited series “The Big Cigar.”The series is based on the Playboy article of the same name by Joshuah Bearman. It tells the true story of how Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton (Holland) relied in his friend Bert Schneider, the Hollywood producer behind “Easy Rider,” to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba.

Tiffany Boone (Hunters) is set to star alongside Andre Holland in The Big Cigar, Apple’s limited series that chronicles the story of Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton’s escape to Cuba, from Claws showrunner Janine Sherman Barrois, Don Cheadle, Joshuah Bearman and Warner Bros. TV.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has ordered the limited series “The Big Cigar” about Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton, Variety has learned.The six-episode series hails from Warner Bros. Television, with André Holland in talks to star as Newton.

The wild story of how Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton was able to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI is being turned into a TV series for Apple.