Real Life 'Radio' Cheers Premiere

After countless handshakes, hugs, autographs and posing for pictures, James Robert "Radio" Kennedy furiously shook his head and smiled.

A woman had just asked if he was tired. "No," he said.

And why would he be?

Radio, a mentally disabled man who became an inspiration first for the local football team and then the community at large, has been the center of attention in this town for decades. And now Cuba Gooding Jr. is playing him in a movie that opened nationwide Friday.

At the premiere here on Thursday, Radio cried as he jumped from a limo and onto the red carpet, surrounded by more than 1,700 people who came to see Gooding and co-star Ed Harris.

"I really liked it," Radio said after the premiere, clutching a football he and the rest of ticketholders were given. It was one of many footballs he would autograph throughout the night.

"I tell Radio, 'Don't cry, be happy,"' said his sister-in-law Mary Kennedy, 55, who has helped take care of him for more than 10 years. But "he cries easily."

Radio wasn't the only one shedding tears.

Charles Gaillard, a former quarterback at T.L. Hanna High School, watched the movie with his wife, Eva, who both said they wiped away tears.

"I think my favorite part was at the end when they showed the real Radio," Gaillard said. "It brought back a lot of memories."

Those memories are sure to live on with many, regardless of how well the movie does at the box office.

"The heroes of the movie are the people of Anderson," said director Mike Tollin. "Hopefully we've done them justice."

Students at Hanna certainly thought the movie had done them right, especially when Gooding and Harris showed up for a pep rally hours before the premiere.

"I was emotionally moved at the pep rally," Gooding said. "Not only has Radio changed my life, but to see the love that the community has for him is overwhelming."

Radio can't read or write, but has taken special education classes for decades, becoming a jack-of-all trades at the school. He helps in the cafeteria, performs with cheerleaders during football games and will mimic football coaches by screaming at players for missed plays. He earned his nickname riding around town in a grocery cart with a transistor radio.

Those closest to Radio say the movie won't change Hollywood's newest star one bit.

"When this is all over, he's the same Radio," said former Hanna football coach Harold Jones (played by Harris in the movie) who befriended Radio nearly 30 years ago when he was hanging around practices, imitating the players. "He won't miss a beat out there at the school."