Brock Peters
| Brock Peters | |
|---|---|
Peters in 1961
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|
| Born |
George Fisher July 2, 1927 Harlem, New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | August 23, 2005 (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1949–2005 |
| Spouse(s) | Dolores Daniels (m. 1961; d. 1989) |
| Children | Lise Jo Peters (nee Lisa), (born November 3, 1962) |
Brock Peters or Brock G. Peters (born George Fisher; July 2, 1927 – August 23, 2005) was an American actor, best known for playing the role of Tom Robinson in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird and for his role as "Crown" in the 1959 film version of Porgy and Bess. In later years, he gained recognition among Star Trek fans for his portrayals of Fleet Admiral Cartwright in two of the Star Trek feature films and Joseph Sisko, father of Benjamin Sisko, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He was also notable for his role as Hatcher in Soylent Green.
Peters was born George Fisher in New York City, the son of Alma A. (née Norford) and Sonnie Fisher, a Senegalese sailor with the French Navy.
Peters set his sights on a show business career early on, at the age of 10. Avidly encouraged by his mother Alma to pursue a musical career, he studied the violin from 10 to 14 years of age, but found his singing talents were more prodigious and upon enrolling at New York's famed High School of Music & Art, immediately signed up for several productions in the musical theatre program. Upon graduation, Peters initially fielded more odd jobs than acting jobs, often working as a hospital orderly at night while he worked his way through physical education studies at City College of New York (CCNY), but still stayed connected to the burgeoning theatre and creative community in New York, occasionally doing background parts in musical plays like "Black Aida". After auditioning and landing a spot touring with the Leonard DePaur Infantry Chorus (of which he was a civilian member from 1945–1947), however, he officially quit CCNY. Peters often joked that he "grew up" in the chorus, as his vocal range changed from baritone to bass baritone during his years with them. DePaur subsequently gave him the lead in the Chorus' popular rendition of "John Henry" (which became a repertoire mainstay of Peters in later years, singing the work on one of his two solo albums produced by United Artists Records in the 1960s). Peters at that time with the Chorus was still performing under the name of George Fisher, but was encouraged by his agent to change it to something a bit more memorable. Future African American entrepreneur Peter Brock was a childhood friend and as he had always liked the name, Peters merely switched the order and presented the idea to his agent. After auditioning and landing a stage role in the touring company of Porgy and Bess in 1949 on the great contralto Etta Moten's suggestion, he went on tour with the opera, where the opera's statesman as Porgy, William Warfield, commended his performances and requested Peters as his understudy. It was during this time touring in Europe with the opera that celebrated African American actor-singer-activist Paul Robeson saw him in his career-defining role as "Crown" and purportedly declared him "a young Paul Robeson".
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