Ivan Dixon
| Ivan Dixon | |
|---|---|
in Nothing But a Man (1964)
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| Born |
Ivan Nathaniel Dixon III April 6, 1931 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 16, 2008 (aged 76) Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Renal failure |
| Occupation | Actor, director, producer |
| Years active | 1957–1991 |
Ivan Nathaniel Dixon III (April 6, 1931 – March 16, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer best known for his series role in the 1960s sitcom Hogan's Heroes, for his role in the 1967 television film The Final War of Olly Winter, and for directing many episodes of television series. Active in the civil rights movement since 1961, he served as a president of Negro Actors for Action.
Ivan Nathaniel Dixon III was born in Harlem, the son of a grocery store owner. When he was young, Dixon lived in the brownstone at 518 West 150th Street in Harlem, on the same block with Josh White, Ralph Ellison, and the Hines brothers, (Gregory and Maurice). He graduated from the Lincoln Academy in Gaston County, North Carolina, and went on to earn a drama degree from North Carolina Central University in 1954, where the theater troupe is now known as the Ivan Dixon Players. While at NCCU, he joined the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
In 1957, Dixon appeared on Broadway in William Saroyan's The Cave Dwellers, following this in 1959 with an appearance in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. In 1958, he was a stunt double for Sidney Poitier in the film The Defiant Ones, and went on to television roles on The Twilight Zone (in the episodes "The Big Tall Wish" and "I Am the Night—Color Me Black"), Perry Mason, and other series. On February 20, 1962, Dixon co-starred with Dorothy Dandridge in the "Blues for a Junkman" episode of "Cain's Hundred", which was highest rated episode of the series.An expanded version was released as a feature film in Europe entitled The Murder Men, and became Dandridge's last screen appearance.
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