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Comic actor Eddie鈥檚 Murphy鈥檚 new film tells the story of a Cleveland entertainer who made a name for himself as an unlikely star of the big screen. Rudy Ray Moore was a hit with some African American audiences when he transformed into the movie character 鈥淒olemite.鈥�

Moore endured a lot of rejection in his performing career. Murphy captures his frustration 鈥� and tenacity 鈥� in 鈥淒olemite Is My Name.鈥� The film documents Moore鈥檚 struggles and successes, culminating in his 1975 movie, 鈥淒olemite,鈥� which featured a fearless, streetwise hustler who didn鈥檛 take "no" for an answer and fought against oppression with his fists.

In a June 2000 interview with former WCPN producer Dan Bindert, the Arkansas native said he came to Northeast Ohio as a teenager.

鈥�I had an aunt who lived there, and I was just a young boy, 17-years-old,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淚 made Cleveland my home.鈥�

His life as an entertainer started as a singer and a dancer, but he really didn鈥檛 connect with audiences until he started telling jokes. Moore left Cleveland and eventually recorded a series of comedy records starting in the late 1950s. These live recordings exuded swagger, audacity, and were laced with raunchy language. Along the way, Moore developed a persona of a pimp, based on stories he鈥檇 heard on the street.

鈥�Street humor; people telling the tale of Dolemite,鈥� said Moore. 鈥淗e was a tough little dude with a heavy pedigree. And I picked it up.鈥�

In 1970, he brought that character to his records. Five years later, he took it further. It was an era for Blaxploitation films catering to African American audiences. Moore scraped together enough money to make a supremely low-budget film. Cleveland filmmaker Robert Banks was nine years old at the time. As a kid, he loved the kung fu action, but he also recognized something else.

鈥淕rowing up having an older father that, while he wasn鈥檛 a street hustler, he pretty much knew the streets,鈥� Banks said. 鈥淎 lot of his immediate friends were like Dolomite.鈥�

Robert Banks takes a break from editing to recall the legacy of Rudy Ray Moore [David C. Barnett / ideastream]

And Banks thinks a lot of the character鈥檚 appeal came from the fact that he didn鈥檛 look like a movie star.

鈥�You've got this sort of heavy-set, middle-aged dude with this scruffy voice, wearing these goofy clothes, saying all this crazy stuff,鈥� Banks said. 鈥淗e's everyman. And he's also the everyman that the white establishment is scared of, at least in these films.鈥�

Robert Banks sees Rudy Ray Moore's delivery as a precursor to rap.

Rudy Ray Moore built a show business career based on sticking it to the man, fighting the system. In 1975, he made a triumphant return home to Cleveland, to one of his old boyhood haunts, to premiere 鈥淒olemite.鈥�

鈥�And it played in the Hippodrome theater, a theater that I鈥檇 sit up and watched many pictures in,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淚鈥檓 watching one of my own films in the theater that I loved so much.鈥�

The . Rudy Ray Moore passed away in Akron in 2008 at the age of 81. This weekend, his memory will once again be up on the screen, in the city where he got his start.