Ron O'Neal

Ron O'Neal
O'Neal in Super Fly (1972).
Born	(1937-09-01)September 1, 1937 Utica, New York, U.S.
Died	January 14, 2004(2004-01-14) (aged 66) Los Angeles, California, United States
Cause of death	Pancreatic Cancer
Nationality	American
Education	Glenville High School Ohio State University
Occupation	Actor, Director, Writer
Years active	1970–2002
Spouse(s)	Carol T. Banks (m. 1973–80) Audrey Pool (m. 1993–2004)

Ron O'Neal (September 1, 1937 – January 14, 2004) was an American actor, director and screenwriter, who rose to fame in his role as Youngblood Priest, a New York cocaine dealer in the blaxploitation film Super Fly (1972) and its sequel Super Fly T.N.T. (1973). O'Neal was also a director and writer for the sequel, and for the film Up Against the Wall.

Ron O'Neal grew up in a working-class neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, to the parents of Eunice and Ernest O'Neal a former jazz musician who earned his living as a factory worker; Ernest died when Ron was 16 years old. Only six months later his brother, who worked as a truck driver, was killed in an accident. Following these tragedies his mother found a job in a hospital in order to sustain the family. He graduated from Glenville High School, then attended Ohio State University, and there became interested in acting after seeing the play Finian's Rainbow. He joined the Karamu House company in Cleveland, Ohio, working with the oldest African-American theatre company in the United States from 1957 until 1964, during which period he appeared in plays such as Kiss Me, Kate, A Streetcar Named Desire and A Raisin in the Sun, working all the time as a housepainter for a living. In 1964, he went to New York, teaching acting classes at the Harlem Youth Arts Program and appearing in Off-Broadway plays.

In 1969, his theatrical breakthrough came in the Broadway play Ceremonies in Dark Old Men. In 1970, appearing in Charles Gordone's Pulitzer Prize-winning play No Place to Be Somebody, he garnered even more attention, winning an Obie Award and several other prizes. From there, he moved on to cinema with two minor roles in Move (1970) and The Organization (1971), after which he was contacted by a friend from Cleveland, screenwriter Phillip Fenty, who suggested he star in an all-black film about a drug dealer. Although shot on a meager budget, the film, Super Fly (1972), went on to become a major hit at the box office.