Created by Walter Mosley Occupation Private detective Nationality American Creator Walter Mosley Movie Devil in a Blue Dress | Gender Male Children Jesus
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Portrayed by Denzel Washington
Clarke Peters People also search for Daphne Monet, DeWitt Albright | ||
Ezekiel "Easy" Porterhouse Rawlins is a fictional character created by mystery author Walter Mosley. Rawlins is an African-American private investigator, a hard-boiled detective and World War II veteran living in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is featured in a series of best-selling mysteries set from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Contents
- Walter mosley shares the background of his easy rawlins series charcoal joe interview part 1 2
- Character biography
- References
The mysteries combine traditional conventions of detective fiction with descriptions of racial inequities and social injustice experienced by African-Americans and other persons of color in the Los Angeles of that period and the present. While Rawlins is clearly in the tradition of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer, he differs sharply from these earlier fictional detectives in that Rawlins is an unlicensed private investigator (though he acquires a license late in the series) with no background or training in law enforcement.
Mosley has written ten novels, and a collection of short stories, starring Rawlins, his most popular character. Mosley once stated he intended to bring the character into contemporary times, but later said the 2007 novel Blonde Faith, which is set in 1967, would be the last. Six years later, a new Easy Rawlins novel entitled Little Green was published.
The character was played by Denzel Washington in Easy's first and (as of 2014) only on-screen appearance, the 1995 film adaptation of Devil in a Blue Dress. Clarke Peters played Rawlins in a BBC radio dramatisation of Black Betty. On September 13, 2011, NBC announced it was developing an Easy Rawlins project. In December 2016, filmmaker Josh Boone announced that he was adapting the series for a television series on FX.
Walter mosley shares the background of his easy rawlins series charcoal joe interview part 1 2
Character biography
Easy's birthday is November 3, 1920. He was born in Louisiana, but spent his late childhood and adolescence living on his own in the Fifth Ward of Houston, Texas. His mother died when he was eight years old, and his father abandoned the family (to avoid reprisals after a violent, racially charged confrontation) prior to her death. Rawlins served in the US Army during World War II, and afterward worked at an aircraft assembly plant.