After Morris appeared in the Purple Rain in '84--where he stole the show--a movie company, 20th Century Fox I think, offered him a multi-movie deal. However, he turned it down because, being that he was a black actor, he deemed the roles he was being offered in these movies as too buffoonish and stereotypical.
And that's where he made the worst mistake of his career.
Morris should have accepted the deal and appeared in a least two other movies, even if he played "Steppin' Fetchit" roles. Even if the roles were buffoonish, he could have become a major star, nonetheless, which would have given leverage to attain better roles in movies. After all, this was how both Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy began their movie careers, and how they became major Hollywood superstars.
