Kene Holliday

Kene Holliday
Holliday as Curtis Baker in Carter Country in 1977
Born	Kenneth Earl Holliday (1949-06-25) June 25, 1949 (age 67) Copiague, Suffolk County, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–present

Kenneth Earl "Kene" Holliday (born June 25, 1949) is an American actor of stage, film, and television. He is known for his role as Ben Matlock's original private investigator, Tyler Hudson on Andy Griffith's hit television series Matlock and as Sgt. Curtis Baker on Carter Country from 1977 until 1979.

Holliday, a product of the Copiague area of Long Island, New York was raised in a Christian home, born into a Baptist family. At age 12 he lost his father. With the encouragement of his mother he participated in track at Copiague High School where he was part of the Fantastic Four Relay Team and was the star of his football team. He was nicknamed as Mr. Hotshot and was known as a "scoring machine" on the football field. He graduated in 1967 and attended University of Maryland on a full scholarship. As he recalled, times were turbulent and the football team was preparing to go on strike against the NCAA over a change in coaches.

He was "jazzed" by a class he took related to the history of theater and acting became his new passion. In 1969, as an undergraduate he played Yank in The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill. He was the first black person to perform in a leading role on the college's "main stage."

After graduation from college his first work was with the Inaugural Theater Group at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. There, he conducted workshops as a founding member of the D.C. Black Repertory Company. In 1975 he was fired from his job because of his continued problems with drugs and alcohol. His chemical abuse continued for the next 14 years. However, despite those problems he starred in the role of Carlyle in David Rabe's Vietnam War-era play Streamers at the Lincoln Theatre.