Steve Harvey, the internationally known entertainer and comedian who’s been filling rooms with laughter for decades, is finally getting a biopic that apparently many don’t care to see.
The film, which is called “Seventy-Two,” will focus on the events that occurred in Harvey’s life three days prior to his 1993 life-changing gig at the Apollo Theatre.
Previous to following his dreams and becoming the comedian, actor, and humorously engaging TV host we know today, Harvey was an insurance salesman in Cleveland. According to Deadline, he quit his job in his mid 20s to pursue comedy but by age 36 he “was confronting a period of self-doubt and personal struggles as he prepared for the performance that would alter his career trajectory.”
The unforeseen news received unexpected reactions from fans but surprisingly some of the feedback had nothing to do with Harvey at all but rather his wife, Marjorie Harvey.
One person wrote, “If anyone deserves a documentary it’s Marjorie cause that come up needs to be taught as Universities,” while another person who shared similar sentiments suggestively wrote, “His wife had a more interesting life than him.”
Before saying “I Do” to the “Family Feud” host in 2007, Marjorie, much like Steve, was previously married twice. In the 1990s she was married to a man named Jimmy Townsend, the father of her first two children, Morgan and Jason. After that marriage ended, she tied the knot for a second time with Donnell Woods in the early 2000s, and from that marriage came their daughter, Lori Harvey.
What’s known about each of these marriages is that both men were drug dealers. Marjorie herself was under FBI investigation at a point while married to Townsend, before he was arrested and given a life sentence, though he only served about 27 years. She was never arrested or charged, and Townsend along with 330 other inmates had their sentences commuted by President Barack Obama on his last full day in office, Jan. 19, 2017.
Fans further expressed interest in wanting to learn about Marjorie and this particular time of her life in the comments.
“Marjorie biopic would be epic…some Queen on the South ish,” said one fan, referencing the 2016 “Queen of the South” show. The crime series, starring Alice Braga, is about a woman who fell in love with a drug dealer and had to flee after his murder. She went on to become a powerful drug dealer herself.
Another fan wrote, “If Marjorie not telling us how she used to move weight back in the day I don’t want to hear no more Jim Crow stories.”
This woman has given me the absolute best years of my life happy anniversary darling ….I love you Marjorie pic.twitter.com/jrnHkSEYaq
— Steve Harvey (@IAmSteveHarvey) June 25, 2023
Marjorie and Steve’s story begins in 1990 when the mother of three happened to be in the audience for one of Steve’s stand-up gigs and she caught his eye. According to People magazine, the two-time divorcée wasn’t ready to start a new relationship as Steve was already married to his first wife Marcia Harvey.
Marcia and Steve divorced in 1994 after welcoming three children together, Brandi, Karli and Broderick Harvey. Then he got married to his second wife, Mary Shackleford, in 1996 and together they had a son, Wynton Harvey. The relationship ended in 2005.
As for the biopic, the Emmy-winning host admitted that he wasn’t interested in the idea of it at first.
Harvey said, “I’ve been reluctant to make a movie about my life for years, until I read the pitch for Seventy-Two. It focuses on one of the most difficult moments in my journey and career, and shows the world that hope is never truly lost. Wait until you see what we do with this.”
He and the chief strategy officer of Steve Harvey Global, Thabiti Stephens, own a production company called, East 112, which is working with Objectively Good Media to produce the film.
OGM producer Mohamed Kheir added, “Steve Harvey’s ability to turn his trials into triumphs is inspiring, and Seventy-Two will showcase the resilience and determination that defined those pivotal days.”
