Richard Brooks Douglass (September 28, 1963 – May 9,
2020) was an American film producer and actor, lawyer, businessman, and
former state senator in Oklahoma.. He died from cancer on May 9, 2020 at
age 56.
Douglass was born in Norman, Oklahoma, the son of Dr. Richard and Marilyn
Sue Douglass.
In 1990, when he was only 27, Douglass, running as a Republican, was
elected as the youngest State Senator to serve in Oklahoma. His
signature legislation was a 1992 bill championing the rights of crime
victims. He served from 1991-2003 representing district 40. He
also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House 6th district in a 1994
special election. While he placed first in the primary, he lost to
eventual victor Frank D. Lucas in the runoff.
Douglass produced and acted in the film The Amendment. In the
film, Douglass portrayed his own father, who had been murdered in 1979.
The Amendment is a film based on the October 15, 1979 murder of his
parents, Dr. Richard Douglass, Marilyn Sue Douglass, and the attempted
murders of Brooks and his sister Leslie. His father served as pastor of
Putnam City Baptist Church and the family resided in Okarche, Oklahoma.
Two drifters, Glen Ake and Steven Hatch entered their home, tied the
family, including Brooks—then 16—stole $43, then took 12-year-old Leslie
into the bedroom where Ake then Hatch both raped her. They then shot all
four family members killing the parents and leaving the two siblings for
dead. The movie recounts the brutal story as a backdrop against which a
story of forgiveness emerges through the lives of Brooks and Leslie,
both of whom have excelled in their respective careers, he as a state
legislator, businessman, producer and actor; she as a professional
educator.
On June 11, 2011, Douglass and his sister Leslie appeared on Huckabee to
talk about how they had come to forgive their parent's killers through
their Christian faith.
Douglass received his from B.B.A, Baylor University. He received his
MBA, and JD, from Oklahoma City University and his MPA, Harvard Kennedy
School of Government.
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