Philly New Year’s parade is no longer mum Max Julien, star of ‘The Mack,’ dies
Longtime actor Max Julien, who portrayed the pimp Goldie in 1973’s “The Mack” and wrote and produced other prominent films within the blaxploitation genre, died Saturday at age 88.
A cause of death has not been released for Julien, who died Saturday at Sherman Oaks Hospital in Southern California, according to his wife, Arabella.
“During Julien’s decadeslong career, he was known for being bold, honest and straightforward,” representatives for Julien said in a statement.
“He would live and speak his own truth both professionally and privately. He was thought of as a rare ‘man among men.’ ”
Julien’s death was mourned by filmmaker and comic book writer David F. Walker, who remembered the entertainer as “brilliant and hilarious and charismatic” in an Instagram tribute.
“I met Max back in 1996,” Walker wrote.
“He was a great human being, and we had so many amazing conversations.”
Born Maxwell Banks in Washington, D.C., Julien got his start in Off-Broadway productions.
He shifted to movies in the mid-1960s and appeared in more than a dozen films, including the 1966 drama “The Black Klansman” and 1968’s hippie-focused “Psych-Out,” which also starred Jack Nicholson, Susan Strasberg and Bruce Dern.
He became a pop culture icon in the early ’70s after landing the leading role in the blaxploitation classic “The Mack” as John “Goldie” Mickens (photo), who pursues the pimp lifestyle in Oakland, Calif., after being released from prison.
He also co-wrote and produced 1973’s “Cleopatra Jones,” which starred Tamara Dobson as an undercover special agent.
Julien also wrote, produced and starred in 1974’s “Thomasine & Bushrod,” a groundbreaking Western inspired by “Bonnie and Clyde” about a pair of bandits who steal from the rich and give to the poor. His final acting credits came during the early 2000s. He made the short film “Suga Free Feat. Katt Williams & Max Julien: Thinkin’, ” which came out in 2004, before appearing on an episode of the comedy series “One on One” in 2005.