Cooley High – The Classic Film
ILOSM fam’ remember the gangsters, ‘Robert’ and ‘Stone’ from the 1975 classic film, Cooley High? They were the classmates who took ‘Cochise’ and ‘Preach’ for a joyride in a stolen car after leaving a house party. Then they were arrested, released, and eventually caught Cochise, beat him, and left him for dead underneath the train tracks.
Now here’s what you didn’t know about the real life of the two cats who played the gangsters.
Friends & Criminals In Real Life
‘Stone’ was played by Rick Stone and ‘Robert’ was played by Norman Gibson. They were actually friends in real life, but the reason they were so convincing in their Cooley High gangster roles was because they were also gangsters in real life. They were stick-up men who robbed folks around town for a living.
How Did 2 Street Dudes Land “Cooley High” Role?
So how in the hell did two street cats from Chi-town end up in one of the most iconic Black films in history? The director of the Eric Monte written film, was Michael Shultz, who was in town searching for authentic characters to fill the gangster roles at that time. After getting a tip from Chicago police, who knew all about Rick’s and Norman’s criminal ways, Michael sought them out. What happened next is very interesting…
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Planned To Rob ‘Cooley High’ Cast & Crew
Rick Stone (“Stone”) revealed, in an interview with N’Digo Eye On Chi, that he and Norman were walking down the street, when Michael rolled up on them in a limo, asking them to read for the parts. Their instant reaction was to go to the set so they could rob everybody in the building! Long story short, thankfully that didn’t happen because they ended up getting the role.
