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In the trivia section, there is mention of Paul's character being inspired by a man named David Hampton. In reality he was an African-American unemployed, street wise hustler who lived on the streets of New York City. Back in the 90's, I saw Mr. Hampton as he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. He described his years as a smooth talking hustler and scam artist. One of his early scams was to have contacted a local nightclub and told the management that he along with a friend were the sons of Sidney Poitier and Gregory Peck. And that they would arrive that same night at the club and were expecting VIP treatment. Well this act worked many times to their advantage throughout the 1980's. And according
to David Hampton, they were never questioned nor suspected of lying. They continued with their scam at various nightspots and trendy restaurants in the city and were to hustle complimentary meals and cocktails many times. During the television interview, Oprah even asked David Hampton if he ever considered getting a regular job. And he replied that he and his friend were so good at their act that he wanted to keep up with his ongoing scam on innocent people. He even filed a lawsuit against script writer John Guare and charged him for not asking Mr. Hampton for permission to base the main character on him. Nor was he consulted for the movie's production. Mr. Hampton has since died of complications of H.I.V. on 18, July 1993. I know that he was never consulted by the movie's producers for his take on the character that was based on him and played by Will Smith. Therefore Mr. Hampton was never paid one dime since he was never hired as a consultant by either the movie's director or producers.
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