Geoffrey Holder
| Geoffrey Holder | |
|---|---|
Holder at the Big Apple Con, November 15, 2008.
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| Born |
Geoffrey Richard Holder August 20, 1930 Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago |
| Died | October 5, 2014 (aged 84) New York, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Alma mater | Queen's Royal College |
| Occupation | Actor, choreographer, director, costume designer, dancer, painter, vocalist |
| Years active | 1957–2014 |
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Spouse(s) | Carmen de Lavallade (m. 1955–2014; his death) |
| Family | Boscoe Holder (brother) |
| Awards |
Outstanding Costume Design 1975 The Wiz Best Direction of a Musical 1975 The Wiz Best Costume Design 1975 The Wiz |
Geoffrey Lamont Holder (August 20, 1930 – October 5, 2014) was a Trinidadian-American actor, choreographer, dancer, painter, singer, and Tony Award–winning stage director and costume designer. He was known for his height (6 ft 6 in), "hearty laugh", and heavily accented bass voice combined with precise diction. From his film career, he is particularly remembered as the villain Baron Samedi in the 1973 Bond-movie Live and Let Die.
Holder was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and Tobago. One of four children, of parents who had emigrated to Trinidad from Barbados, Holder attended Tranquillity School and then secondary school at Queen's Royal College in Port-of-Spain. At the age of seven, he made his debut in the dance company of his elder brother Boscoe Holder, from whom he had been receiving lessons in dancing and painting.
In 1952, choreographer Agnes de Mille saw Geoffrey Holder dance in St. Thomas. She invited him to New York; he would teach at the Katherine Dunham School of Dance for two years.
Holder was a principal dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York City from 1955 to 1956. He made his Broadway debut in House of Flowers, a musical by Harold Arlen (music and lyrics) and Truman Capote (lyrics and book). He also starred in an all-black production of Waiting for Godot in 1957.
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