The Bearded Trio

Part Two: Whoopi Goldberg Mark Marshall who was Steven Spielberg's assistant from 84-88  has graciously decided to share his memories and pictures from the making of that groundbreaking movie .  Mark Marshall -  When Whoopi Goldberg learned that Alice Walker’s novel, “The Color Purple,” was going to be adapted for the big screen, she wrote to the author and boldly stated that she would be happy to play “a piece of dirt on the floor.”  Alice replied that she knew who Whoopi was and had already sent her info to the producers.  At the time, Whoopi was performing her one-woman show on Broadway, however, due to director Steven Spielberg’s schedule, he was unable to fly to New York to catch a performance.  Instead, he flew Whoopi to Los Angeles and had her perform her entire show in the Amblin screening room before a VIP crowd (including Richard Pryor, Lionel Richie, and Michael Jackson) as well as Amblin Entertainment staff.  The evening was unforgettable, ...