Way before mainstream Black male performers like Will Smith or Keenen Ivory Wayans were dominating network TV with their witty personalities, there was a lightning bolt named Flip Wilson. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the legendary comedian and actor was the official king of the Nielsen ratings. Time Magazine called him TV’s first Black superstar. Wilson won Emmys, Grammys and his variety juggernaut The Flip Wilson Show was home to some of the hottest performers on the planet. His characters, including Geraldine and Reverend Leroy, are still classics. But Flip had many demons. Growing up in dire poverty in Jersey City, New Jersey, he endured foster homes, reform schools and came up on the ‘chitlin circuit’ before getting his break on the Johnny Carson show. He was fueled by a diet of drugs that kept him wired and sometimes paranoid. Unsung Hollywood explores the unpredictable and often unrecognized life of Flip Wilson. According to Flip’s longtime friend Rev. Jesse Jackson, the comedian changed the landscape of TV for Blacks forever. “Flip was a breakthrough artist for African Americans. He led with a brand of comedy that was clean and decent and not vulgar. To the end, he was a man I held in great esteem as a comedian and as a person.”