The Wiz (film) certain we didn't use anything from it. They made a brilliant movie, and even though our concept is different – they're Kansas, we're New York; they're white, we're black, and the score and the books are totally different – we wanted to make sure that we never overlapped in any area." Michael Jackson, a former Motown star and close friend of Diana Ross was cast as the Scarecrow. By the start of development on "The Wiz" in 1977, he and his brothers The Jacksons, had left Motown for Epic Records, though Jackson had yet to make a solo album since
Michael Jackson (writer) styles. His influential television series "The Beer Hunter" was shown in fifteen different countries. He was as well-versed in malt whisky as he was in beer, and his book "Michael Jackson's Malt Whisky Companion" (1989) is the best-selling book on the subject in the world. At the time of his death Jackson had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for at least a decade. He did not declare his illness until his symptoms caused some to think he was drunk. Jackson was born in Wetherby, West Riding of Yorkshire. His father had Anglicised his Lithuanian Jewish surname Jakowitz to Jackson. The