Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck's 1969 autobiography, "Pimp: The Story of My Life," is on its way to the big screen.
Rob Weiss, an executive producer of HBO's "Entourage," along with producers Mitch Davis, Ryan Drexler and Andrew Left have acquired film rights to the best-seller.
Born into poverty, Beck became a pimp at 18 and rose to kingpin status in the Chicago underworld. He served several stints in prison, making one escape. After retiring from the business he became an insecticide salesman in Los Angeles. During a call to a college professor, Beck mentioned that he had been a pimp, and the professor encouraged him to write an autobiography. Three months later, Beck had penned "Pimp."
The book has sold more than 5 million copies and is the second-best-selling book by a black man, after Alex Haley's "Roots."
"The story is really the birth of the American inner city, and it's an incredible tale of overcoming oppression," said Weiss. "It speaks of a very specific time in America and its street culture. The book is filled with broken souls but shows how, in the end, Iceberg found a way to heal himself."
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