Back كونتا كينتي Arabic Kunta Kinte German Kunta Kinte Spanish کونتا کینته Persian Kunta Kinte Finnish Kunta Kinte French Kunta Kinte Croatian Kunta Kinte ID Kunta Kinte Italian Kunta Kinte NB
| Kunta Kinte | |
|---|---|
 LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte in the TV miniseries Roots | |
| First appearance | Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976) |
| In-universe information | |
| Family | Omoro (father) Binta (mother) Kizzy (daughter) George (grandson) Tom (great-grandson) |
Kunta Kinte (/ˈkuːntɑː ˈkɪnteɪ/ KOON-tah KIN-tay; c. 1750 – c. 1822) is a fictional character in the 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family by American author Alex Haley. Kunta Kinte was based on one of Haley's ancestors, a Gambian man who was born around 1750, enslaved, and taken to America where he died around 1822. Haley said that his account of Kunta's life in Roots is a mixture of fact and fiction.[1]
Kunta Kinte's life story figured in two US television series based on the book: the original 1977 TV miniseries Roots,[2] and a 2016 remake of the same name. In the original miniseries, the character was portrayed as a teenager by LeVar Burton and as an adult by John Amos. In the 2016 miniseries, he is portrayed by Malachi Kirby.[3] Burton reprised his role in the 1988 TV movie Roots: The Gift.
- ^ The Roots of Alex Haley". BBC Television Documentary. 1997.
- ^ Bird, J.B. "ROOTS". Museum.tv. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2007.
- ^ Campbell, Sabrina (May 30, 2016). "Malachi Kirby is Kunta Kinte in 'Roots' Remake". NBC News. Retrieved January 3, 2017.