Actor / Director Profile

Handsome, leanly built African-American actor who notched up guest appearances in dozens of well rated US TV shows including "Mannix" (1967), "McCloud" (1970), "Emergency!" (1972) and "Magnum, P.I." (1980). However, he's better known to cult films fans for his portrayal of character "Matthew Johnson" in the successful blaxploitation films Cleopatra Jones (1973) and the sequel Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975).Popwell additionally co-starred alongside screen icon Clint Eastwood in five feature films starting off as "Wonderful Digby" in Coogan's Bluff (1968). The next four occasions were in several of the highly popular "Dirty Harry" films, firstly as wounded bank robber at the receiving end of Eastwood's now legendary, "Do you feel lucky punk ?" speech in the opening minutes of Dirty Harry (1971). He was back as a sadistic pimp murdering a greedy call girl with a can of drain cleaner before being executed by a vigilante motorcycle cop in Magnum Force (1973), and he was still on the wrong side of the law as a militant "Black Power" styled activist named "Big Ed" Mustapha in _Enforcer, The (1976/I). For his final appearance alongside Eastwood, Popwell was on the right side of Clint for once as a fellow detective in Sudden Impact (1983).Popwell passed away on April 9th, 1999 from complications arising after major surgery.