Ray the film
Charles was significantly involved in the biopic Ray, an October 2004 film which portrays his life and career between 1930 and 1966 and stars Jamie Foxx as Charles. Foxx won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.
Before shooting could begin, however, director Taylor Hackford brought Foxx to meet Charles, who insisted that they sit down at two pianos and play together. For two hours, Charles challenged Foxx, who revealed the depth of his talent, and finally, Charles stood up, hugged Foxx, and gave his blessing, proclaiming, "He's the one... he can do it."
Charles was expected to attend a showing of the completed film, but he died before it opened in theaters.
As noted in the film's final credits, Ray is based on true events, but includes some characters, names, locations, events which have been changed and others which have been "fictionalized for dramatization purposes." One example of the film's use of dramatic license are the scenes which refer to Charles as being banned from Georgia.
The film's credits note that he is survived by 12 children, 21 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren.
