I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (film)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an American television film based on the autobiography of the same name by Maya Angelou, first aired April 28, 1979 on CBS. Angelou and Leonora Thuna wrote the screenplay, and the movie was directed by Fielder Cook. Constance Good played the young Maya Angelou. Also appearing were Esther Rolle, Roger E. Mosley, Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, and Madge Sinclair. Filming took place in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The movie traces Maya's life from when she and her brother move in with their grandmother to the trauma of being raped as a young girl by one of her mother's boyfriends and the several years of silence that came after the attack. Two scenes in the movie differed from events described in the book. Angelou added a scene between Maya and Uncle Willie after the Joe Louis fight. In it, he expresses his feelings of redemption after Louis defeats a white opponent. Angelou also presents her eighth-grade graduation differently in the film. In the book, Henry Reed delivers the valedictory speech and leads the black audience in the Negro national anthem. In the movie, Maya conducts these activities. Cast
(in credits order)
 Paul Benjamin as Freeman
 Diahann Carroll as Vivian
 Ruby Dee as Grandmother Baxter
 Roger E. Mosley as Bailey Sr.
 Esther Rolle as Momma
 Madge Sinclair as Miss Flowers
 Constance Good as Maya Angelou
 John Driver as Bailey Jr. (as John M. Driver II)
 Sonny Jim Gaines as Uncle Willie
 Art Evans as Principal
 J. Don Ferguson as Mr. Donleavy
 Georgia Allen as Mrs. Gurney
 Darryl Antony Williams as Tommy Valdon (as Darryl Williams)
 Tonea Stewart as Lillie (as Tommie Stewart)
 Monica Kyles as Julie
 Rick Salassi as Parmenian (as Richard Salassi)
 Lewis Liddell as Tommy
 Sammy Liddell as Ira
 Sylvester Spann as Tutti
 Myra Jo Arvin as Red
 Mose Lee Williams as 1st Mrs. Fletcher
 Frankie Mitchell as 2nd Mrs. Fletcher
 M.L. Breeland as Mr. Peters
 Angela Brown as Kitty
 Abbie Burns as Mary

External links
 

1979 television films
1979 films
1970s biographical drama films
CBS network films
Films based on biographies
Films directed by Fielder Cook
African-American biographical dramas
1970s English-language films
Maya Angelou
American drama television films
1970s American films