ABOUT WYLIE DRAPER
Dancer and actor best known for his portrayal of Michael Jackson in the 1992 miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream . He passed away in 1993 after having been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.
He played football in high school. When he was ten, his older brother would host parties at a local skating rink, and Draper would dance like Jackson. He took some acting classes at Pittsburgh's Point Park College and worked as a lead dancer at Disney World.
He was discovered by casting director Jaki Brown, who later caste the movies Stand and Deliver and Boyz n the Hood . A fellow casting director in Pittsburgh knew Draper and recommended him to Jacksons director Karen Arthur. Brown then tracked down Draper, who was performing in a musical revue on a Norwegian cruise ship near San Pedro, California.
He was born Wylie Hughes Draper Jr. in West Virginia.
Draper's costars in The Jacksons included future stars Angela Bassett and Terrence Howard , as well as Holly Robinson Peete , Vanessa Williams , and Billy Dee Williams . In addition to playing Jackson in The Jacksons, Draper danced in Jackson's 1992 "Remember the Time" video, which also starred Eddie Murphy , Iman Abdulmajid , Magic Johnson , and The Pharcyde, and was directed by John Singleton .
