Ron O'Neal was an American actor, director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

. O'Neal is most remembered for his starring role as Youngblood Priest in the blaxploitation film Super Fly and the Cuban officer Colonel Bella in the film Red Dawn

Red Dawn

Red Dawn is a 1984 American war film directed by John Milius and co-written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. It stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey....

, although he also had recurring roles on the television show Living Single

Living Single

Living Single is an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 29, 1993 to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone.Throughout its run, Living...

as Synclaire's father and as Whitley Gilbert's father on A Different World. He was also a regular on the 1982 series "Bring 'Em Back Alive" with Bruce Boxleitner in which he played the Sultan of Johore.

He died in 2004 of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...

 at the age of 66 on the same day "Super Fly" was released on DVD in the US.

Actor

• Original Gangstas
  Original Gangstas
  Original Gangstas is a 1996 action movie set in urban Gary, Indiana starring Blaxploitation film stars such as Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, and Richard Roundtree....
  
  (1996)
• Hero and the Terror
  Hero and the Terror
  Hero and the Terror was a 1988 action film starring martial arts star Chuck Norris, directed by William Tannen. Produced by Menahem Golan, written by Michael Blodgett, and was distributed by Cannon Films. The film stars Norris as Danny O'Brien as a cop trying to stop a serial killer, Simon Moon...
  
  (1988) ... as Mayor
• The Equalizer
  The Equalizer
  The Equalizer is an American television series that ran for four seasons, initially on CBS, between 1985 and 1989. It starred Edward Woodward as an aging New York vigilante with a mysterious past...
  
  (1986–1987) ... as Lt. Isadore Smalls
• Red Dawn
  Red Dawn
  Red Dawn is a 1984 American war film directed by John Milius and co-written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. It stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey....
  
  (1984) ... as Bella
• St. Helens (1981) ... Otis Kaylor
• The Sophisticated Gents
  The Sophisticated Gents
  The Sophisticated Gents is a TV miniseries that aired on three consecutive nights from September 29 to October 1, 1981 on NBC. Its ensemble cast featured a number of African American stage and film actors, many of whom were customarily seen in Blaxploitation motion pictures in the 1970s. The...
  
  (1981) ... Clarence 'Claire' Henderson
• The Final Countdown (1980) ... Commander Dan Thurman
• Brave New World
  Brave New World
  Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's fifth novel, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in London of AD 2540 , the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of...
  
  (1980) ... Mustapha Mond
• When a Stranger Calls
  When a Stranger Calls (1979 film)
  When a Stranger Calls is a 1979 thriller starring Carol Kane and Charles Durning, directed by Fred Walton. The film derives its story from the classic folk legend of "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs". The original music score is composed by television composer Dana Kaproff.The film ranked #28...
  
   Lt. Charlie Garber
• A Force of One
  A Force of One
  A Force of One is a 1979 martial arts film starring Chuck Norris, Jennifer O'Neill, Ron O'Neal, Clu Gulager, and Bill Wallace. The film was directed by Paul Aaron and written by Pat E...
  
  (1979)
• The Hitter (1979) ... Otis
• The Master Gunfighter
  The Master Gunfighter
  The Master Gunfighter is a film released in 1975, written and produced by Tom Laughlin, who also played the lead as Finley. It is commonly believed Laughlin also directed the film, using the name of his son, Frank Laughlin, as a pseudonym. He had used his children's names in various forms as...
  
  (1975)
• Super Fly T.N.T.
  Super Fly T.N.T.
  Super Fly T.N.T. is a 1973 film directed, starring, and co-written by Ron O'Neal. O'Neal reprises his role of Youngblood Priest from the smash hit blaxploitation film Super Fly.The film is currently out of print.-Plot:...
  
    (1973)
• Super Fly (1972) ... Youngblood Priest
• The Mack
  The Mack
  The Mack is a 1973 blaxploitation film starring Max Julien and Richard Pryor. Although the movie was produced during the era of such blaxploitation movies as Dolemite, its producers do not label it a true blaxploitation picture...
  
  (1973) ... Hispanic
• The Organization
  The Organization (film)
  The Organization is a 1971 film starring Sidney Poitier as Virgil Tibbs. It was the last of the trilogy featuring the police detective Tibbs that had begun with In the Heat of the Night . In it Tibbs is called in to hunt down a gang of urban revolutionaries, suspected of a series of crimes...
  
  (1971) ... Joe Peralez

External links

• Ron O'Neal at the Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
  
  .
• Interview with Ron O'Neal about Superfly from the WGBH series, Say Brother
• Ron O'Neal At Find A Grave
  Find A Grave
  Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...