Standing six feet, four inches tall, Bill Duke has been a towering presence as both actor and director in film and tv for the past forty-plus years. With his menacing eyes and iconic shaved head, he has played everything from a gay pimp (American Gigolo) to a militant muslim (Car Wash) to a seen-it-all detective (Menace II Society) with an iconic line—"You know you done f**ked up—you know that, right?” For a long time, Duke worried that he himself had messed up. A pre-med drop-out in the 1960s, he threw himself into the New York theater scene and struggled with poverty, drugs and overall discouragement before moving to LA and getting his first breaks in TV and film. He was passionate about acting, but on his terms, rejecting roles that he found stereotypical or demeaning. Looking for more control and substance in his work, Duke turned to directing in the early 80s and remade himself into an A-lister behind the camera, calling the shots in major films like A Rage In Harlem, Sister Act 2, The Cemetery Club. More personal projects like Cover, which examines AIDS and homosexuality in the black community, and Dark Girls, a documentary about skin tone, have kept Duke relevant and on the cutting edge of creative film-making to the present day. Meanwhile, the imposing man with the glowering look but gentle spirit has mentored hundreds of aspiring film-makers in inner city boot camps and after-school programs that complete the circle on his powerful, generous life and career. In addition to Duke himself, this episode of Unsung Hollywood features interviews with family members, friends, and Hollywood colleagues, including Whoopi Goldberg and Vivica A. Fox.