Trivia

After working with Steve Allen, the originator of the tonight show personally wrote NBC exec Rick Ludwin that Brian was the logical choice for a late night berth.

As a television morning host, Brian did the last interview with Henny Youngman before his death on KTVU Channel 2 in Oakland.

Friend and protégé of Rita Moreno.

It was Carl Reiner who inspired Brian to write Genuine. Upon asking the legendary comedy writers advice on the approach he should take with the script for his one man show, Reiner told him to 'find the piece of ground that you alone stand on, that nobody else in the world does and write from there.

Told by Rush Limbaugh that he could be a huge star in national talk radio if he'd only swing to the far right in his rhetoric. Copeland replied, "I have to look at myself in the morning when I shave.".

Presented by Edward Asner to the Hollywood establishment in a Malibu production of Genuine in 2007.

Toured with Smokey Robinson and broke in part of the opening for Not A Genuine Black Man in front of a sold out house at the Universal Amphithater in 2004.

Copeland modeled the comic/tragic rhythms of Genuine on the work of Norman Lear. While writing the play, he watched the first two seasons of All in The Family for guidance. Lear saw the show in Los Angeles in 2006 and declared, "You have my style down perfectly!".

As a teenager, Copeland fought as a middleweight boxer AAU matches. He had considered a career as a fighter and had a promising record (22 wins-12 by knock out - 4 losses).