ROBERT “Skeet” Douglas was the father of Rob Peace, a Yale graduate who sold drugs to fund his dad’s legal case.
Eventually, both Skeet and his son Rob passed away but a film based on the son’s life will land on Netflix on November 11, 2024.
Skeet was a local drug dealer when his partner Jackie gave birth to their son Rob.
The pair were living in Orange, New Jersey, and Rob showed signs of being academically gifted from a young age.
Skeet was determined to get his son to write neatly, as he considered this to be an important part of being academic.
He was a well respected member of the community, who was known for being an extremely fast talker and gregarious person.
Although the origin of the nickname “Skeet” is unknown, it did help differentiate Robert Douglas from his son Robert Peace.
However, Skeet was eventually arrested and put behind bars for the murder of two people.
Jackie still took Rob to see his dad and they grew close, while Jackie took on several jobs to fund Rob’s education.
Skeet’s son graduated from his Catholic high school and headed to Yale to study biology, but, when he arrived at the university, Rob vowed to free his father from prison.
Rob started sharing a room with Jeff Hobbs, who would later write his autobiography entitled The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Banks.
At university, Rob began selling cannabis to pay for his dad’s legal bills which eventually led to Skeet’s sentence being overturned.
However, intervention by the state meant that the Skeet remained in prison and the old sentence was reinstated.
Skeet was then diagnosed with a brain tumor and his health began to rapidly decline.
He passed away in prison, but his son continued to sell drugs.
Eventually, Rob decided to stop selling cannabis and returned home to New Jersey, where he took up a teaching job at his old school.
He won teacher of the year and had finally gotten his life on track, before everything he had built unraveled after a botched real-estate scheme.
To make ends meet, he began selling drugs again but was killed shortly after in a drug-related murder on May 18, 2011.
The Academy Award nominated actor and director Chiwetel Ejiofor was chosen to write and direct a movie about Rob’s life.
He would also star in the film as Skeet, himself.
Jackie, Rob’s mom, helped in the making of the film by telling stories about her son and ex-partner.
The film will land on Netflix on November 11, 2024, and has already had a successful limited theater release.
