Trivia

The script called for a "penny hustler," but Rudy Ray Moore and Jerry Jones were unable to find a suitable actor through Moore's acquaintances or among Jones' acting class students. After filming began, Moore and Jones were traveling down Western Avenue in Los Angeles when they spotted the exact type of character they were looking for hustling on the street. They pulled over, Jones got out and talked to the man, and Vanius Rackstraw was hired as "The Creeper / Hamburger Pimp" on the spot.

The boom mic is visible in many shots of original Xenon VHS to DVD transfer from the 1980s. The film was originally transferred without the proper ratio "gate" of 1.85:1, revealing more of the top and bottom of the frame than the film makers originally intended. The 2016 Vinegar Syndrome Bluray release was re-transferred from an archive print of the film, at the proper ratio, so the boom mics are hidden in many shots. The Bluray release also includes a "boom mic" version of the new transfer, intentionally revealing the boom mics for comic effect.

Moore first developed the character of Dolemite in his stand-up comedy routines, and later appeared on his 1970 debut album, Eat Out More Often, which reached the top 25 on the Billboard 200. He released several more comedy albums using this persona. In 1975, Moore decided to create a film about Dolemite, paying for most of the production out of his own pocket, and using many of his friends and fellow comedians as cast and crew.

At one point, the New York Times called the film as the "Citizen Kane" of Blaxploitation (Black Exploitation films).

Cinematographer Nicholas Josef von Sternberg had to be occasionally covered with a sound blanket because he couldn't stop laughing during the shooting of this film.