Ron Taylor (actor)
Encyclopedia
Ronald James Taylor was an American actor, singer and writer. He grew up in Galveston
, Texas
and later moved to New York
to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
. After graduating, he began working in musical theater, appearing in The Wiz
(1977), before getting his break with the 1982 off-Broadway
production Little Shop of Horrors
. Taylor voiced the killer plant Audrey II in the show, which ran for five years and over 2,000 performances.
Taylor created and starred in the musical revue It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues
, which charted the history of blues music, from its African origin to American success. Originally performed at high schools in Denver
as a 45-minute piece, the revue was expanded to two hours, played around the country and opened on Broadway in 1999. It was met with critical acclaim, ran for eight months, and saw Taylor receive two Tony Award
nominations.
He also had numerous television roles, appearing in The Simpsons
, Twin Peaks
, Ally McBeal
and L.A. Law
. His performance in the latter, as a singer who performed the American national "The Star-Spangled Banner
" at baseball games, led him to perform the anthem at several real-life sporting events. Taylor was married and had one son. He died in January 2002 after suffering a heart attack.
, Texas
to Marian and Robert "Bruno" Taylor and had two sisters, Roberta and Frances. He attended Wharton College
and later O'Connell High School
, where he was a football player, and a participant in the school choir and theater. The choir teacher suggested he join after overhearing him singing The Temptations
. He favoured music over football, and at the age of 19 attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
in New York, intending to become a singer.
and could "barely" play the piano, but found work as a singer. In 1977 he played the Cowardly Lion
in a national touring production of The Wiz
. Taylor subsequently played Great Big Baby in the 1978 Broadway production Eubie!
and Caiaphas
in a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar
.
He voiced Audrey II, the "street-smart, funky, conniving" talking killer plant which is an "anthropomorphic cross between a Venus flytrap and an avocado", in the original off-Broadway
production of Howard Ashman
and Alan Menken
's "black-comedy musical" Little Shop of Horrors
from 1982. Audrey II was played by four increasingly large puppets, operated by Martin P. Robinson
, while Taylor sat in a box at the back of the stage to voice the role, standing to perform his musical numbers. The two kept in close proximity to ensure "that voice and action are always synchronized" and "developed a rapport" which was "the only thing that allow[ed] the character to really bloom." Taylor disliked sitting in the box as it left him feeling disconnected from the audience. The part was his break and was described by Jesse McKinley of The New York Times
as "a role Mr. Taylor's booming voice was made for...[he] soon put his stamp on Audrey's signature line: 'Feed me, feed me!'" Members of the public often used the line when they saw Taylor. Little Shop of Horrors was performed over 2000 times before it closed in 1987. At the 1983 Drama Desk Awards, Taylor won the award for Outstanding Special Effects for his performance, which he shared with Robinson.
In the 1984 Broadway
production of The Three Musketeers
at The Broadway Theatre
, Taylor played Porthos
, one of the three titual characters. After fifteen preview performances, the show ran just nine times before closing. Frank Rich
wrote that the musketeers were "professionally played" by Taylor and his co-stars Brent Spiner
and Chuck Wagner
but felt the three had "little dialogue and often seem like interchangeable stand-ins for the Three Stooges
." A similar view was held by William B. Collins of the Philadelphia Inquirer who said they "speak as in one voice and behave like comedians who have been stranded without good material."
, which charted the history of blues music, from its African origin to American success. He conceived the original idea for the show when he played blues musician Rufus Payne
in a 1987 production of Lost Highway, a play about singer Hank Williams at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts
in Denver, Colorado
. He proposed the idea to director Randal Myler who eventually accepted it in 1994. Taylor co-wrote the revue with Myler, Lita Gaithers, Charles Bevel and Dan Wheetman, and also served as its associate producer. Taylor was the revue's lead singer and acted as its narrator; his numbers included "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", "The Thrill is Gone
", "Blues Man" and "Let the Good Times Roll
". It was initially performed as a 45-minute production at 25 local high schools. Due to the positive reception these received, the show was expanded to two hours and 50 songs, with three people being added to the original cast of four, and was regularly performed at the Denver Center. Taylor described the performance as "very cordial", with the audience close to performers, and that "one show is never the same as the next show because of the songs, of what they are. Blues is about how you feel today. One day, you're down; another day is real happy and giddy. We're all laughing. Randy's direction captures that. It's always so personal, bringing the audience into the piece." As well as African music, the revue includes "country, gospel, the old blues, Appalachian music," featuring music by Patsy Cline
, Brenda Lee
, Mahalia Jackson
, Jimmy Rogers
, Nina Simone
and Muddy Waters
.
In 1995 the revue ran for a month at the Cleveland Play House
, in conjunction with opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
, before touring at other regional theaters. It played at the Crossroads Theatre
in New Jersey
for seven weeks in November 1998. It opened off-Broadway at New York's New Victory Theater in March 1999, presented by Crossroads Theatre, in association with San Diego Repertory Theatre
and Alabama Shakespeare Festival
. It was met with critical and audience acclaim and the following month it moved to Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. New York Times critic Lawrence Van Gelder wrote that the show had a "cornucopia of splendidly interpreted song," and "is a potent blend of visual eloquence and historical sweep that engages the eye and touches the heart while its songs soothe the ear, occasionally work mischief on the funny bone and always raise the spirits." A week after opening at the Beaumont, the show received four Tony Award
nominations, with Taylor being nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
and Best Book of a Musical
. The cast's performance on the live Tony Awards show on CBS
was bumped due to limited time, sparking controversy, costing the show potential revenue and damaging its prospects for survival. The cast performed two days later on the CBS talkshow Late Show with David Letterman
, while media attention and radio coverage of the Tonys snub boosted the show's takings for the following two weeks. This did not last and did not "build a long-lasting audience like the Tonys could" leading the show to continue making a loss. A large word-of-mouth networking campaign to advertise the performance was set up by the producers and it moved to the Ambassador Theatre
; the show began to break even. The show closed in January 2000 after a total run of eight months on Broadway.
For the rest of the year the show toured at regional theaters again, running in Atlanta, San Diego and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
in Washington D.C., and returned to New York in August 2000 at the B.B. King Blues Club and Grill for a month-long run. Jim Trageser of The Press-Enterprise, in a review of one of the San Diego performances, praised Taylor's performance, saying he "has the lung power to simply take over any show, especially his own" and "shows surprising grace and athleticism as well as the kind of leonine masculinity that certain big men (Orson Welles
, Babe Ruth
) possess" and also wrote positively of the writing, calling it "a superb job not only of selecting the songs, but in choosing arrangements that blow away all the cobwebs history has laid on many of them." It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues was the longest-running show Taylor appeared in, as well as his final Broadway appearance. Taylor planned an IMAX
film version of the production; and nine years after his death, it was revived by the New Haarlem Arts Theater at the Aaron Davis Hall
on the City College of New York
campus.
, appearing in the first season
episode "Moaning Lisa
" (1990) and returning for the character's death in the season six
episode "'Round Springfield
" (1995). He was one of the first people to guest star on the show. Taylor was supposed to reprise his role in the season two
episode "Dancin' Homer
", but was in New York and unable to record his part. Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club
said the role gave Taylor "television immortality". He also reprised the role on a recording of Billie Holiday
's song "God Bless the Child
" on the 1990 The Simpsons album The Simpsons Sing the Blues
. He appeared as a Klingon
chef in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, and played wrestling instructor Coach Wingate in Twin Peaks
. Other television roles included NYPD Blue
, ER
, Profiler
, Family Matters, Home Improvement
and Ally McBeal
. He also had a recurring part in the series City of Angels, and played a blues singer in a two-part episode of Matlock
, a role that was written for him. He also appeared in more than 20 films. These included Trading Places
, Amos & Andrew
, A Rage in Harlem as Hank, The Mighty Quinn and Rush Hour 2
.
After a 1991 appearance on the series L.A. Law
, on which he played a singer sacked by a baseball team for "embellish[ing]" his performances of the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner
", Taylor received several invitations to sing it before sports events, although never expected anything to happen when he had taken the part. He sang it before the Major League Baseball
game between the Baltimore Orioles
and Detroit Tigers
on July 1, 1991. His rendition did not mimic that of his character: "the song is self-explanatory. I'm just going to sing the song straightforwardly and that's that." Taylor received travel and accommodation expenses but no other payment for his performance. He also sang for a Los Angeles Kings
National Hockey League
game, and several years later he sang the anthem before the MLB match between the Cleveland Indians
and Chicago White Sox
on August 5, 1995.
Taylor was part of the blues group The Nervis Bros and performed across the United States. He also sang with Billy Joel
, Bruce Springsteen
, Etta James
, Slash
and Sheila E.
.
where she was the understudy for Dorothy. They married in 1980 and had a son, Adamah. In his spare time, Taylor often helped teach vulnerable young people through a variety of projects, including at the George Street Playhouse
in New Jersey. He noted "things have come out of the air for me...I'm grateful; that's why I work with kids. I've had a blessing in my career, to have gone as far as I've gone." A 1995 piece in The Plain Dealer described Taylor as "A jolly giant of a man, he looks like a natural force - a mountain, perhaps, who can tell great stories." Taylor was a Christian
.
Taylor suffered a small stroke in 1999; he was able to perform again in It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues 73 days later. He died of a heart attack
aged 49, on January 16, 2002, at his home in Los Angeles, California
. His funeral took place on January 28 at the New Christ Memorial Church of God and Christ.
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and later moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
. After graduating, he began working in musical theater, appearing in The Wiz
The Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
(1977), before getting his break with the 1982 off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
. Taylor voiced the killer plant Audrey II in the show, which ran for five years and over 2,000 performances.
Taylor created and starred in the musical revue It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues
It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues
It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues is a musical revue written by Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor, and Dan Wheetman. It was originally produced at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and later presented by the Crossroads Theatre, in association with San Diego Repertory...
, which charted the history of blues music, from its African origin to American success. Originally performed at high schools in Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
as a 45-minute piece, the revue was expanded to two hours, played around the country and opened on Broadway in 1999. It was met with critical acclaim, ran for eight months, and saw Taylor receive two Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations.
He also had numerous television roles, appearing in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
, Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...
and L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
. His performance in the latter, as a singer who performed the American national "The Star-Spangled Banner
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
" at baseball games, led him to perform the anthem at several real-life sporting events. Taylor was married and had one son. He died in January 2002 after suffering a heart attack.
Early life
Taylor was born Ronald James Taylor on October 16, 1952 in GalvestonGalveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to Marian and Robert "Bruno" Taylor and had two sisters, Roberta and Frances. He attended Wharton College
Wharton Independent School District
Wharton Independent School District is a public school district based in Wharton, Texas .In 2009, the school district was rated "academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.-Schools:*Wharton High School...
and later O'Connell High School
O'Connell College Preparatory School
O'Connell College Preparatory School is a 4-year coeducational parochial/private high school in Galveston, Texas, United States that offers university-preparatory programs...
, where he was a football player, and a participant in the school choir and theater. The choir teacher suggested he join after overhearing him singing The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
. He favoured music over football, and at the age of 19 attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
in New York, intending to become a singer.
Early theater work
Taylor, a "barrel-chested bass-baritone", had an extensive career in musical theater. Upon graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Taylor was unable to read sheet musicSheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
and could "barely" play the piano, but found work as a singer. In 1977 he played the Cowardly Lion
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
in a national touring production of The Wiz
The Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
. Taylor subsequently played Great Big Baby in the 1978 Broadway production Eubie!
Eubie!
Eubie! is a revue featuring the music of Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle, Andy Razaf, Johnny Brandon, F.E. Miller, and Jim Europe.-Production:...
and Caiaphas
Caiaphas
Joseph, son of Caiaphas, Hebrew יוסף בַּר קַיָּפָא or Yosef Bar Kayafa, commonly known simply as Caiaphas in the New Testament, was the Roman-appointed Jewish high priest who is said to have organized the plot to kill Jesus...
in a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
.
He voiced Audrey II, the "street-smart, funky, conniving" talking killer plant which is an "anthropomorphic cross between a Venus flytrap and an avocado", in the original off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production of Howard Ashman
Howard Ashman
Howard Elliott Ashman was an American playwright and lyricist. Ashman first studied at Boston University and Goddard College and then went on to achieve his master's degree from Indiana University in 1974...
and Alan Menken
Alan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
's "black-comedy musical" Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
from 1982. Audrey II was played by four increasingly large puppets, operated by Martin P. Robinson
Martin P. Robinson
Martin P. Robinson is a puppeteer for the Jim Henson Company. He originally built, designed, and performed the puppets for Little Shop of Horrors. He is perhaps best known for his work on Sesame Street. He has performed the characters of Telly Monster, Slimey the Worm, Mr. Snuffleupagus, and Tony...
, while Taylor sat in a box at the back of the stage to voice the role, standing to perform his musical numbers. The two kept in close proximity to ensure "that voice and action are always synchronized" and "developed a rapport" which was "the only thing that allow[ed] the character to really bloom." Taylor disliked sitting in the box as it left him feeling disconnected from the audience. The part was his break and was described by Jesse McKinley of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as "a role Mr. Taylor's booming voice was made for...[he] soon put his stamp on Audrey's signature line: 'Feed me, feed me!'" Members of the public often used the line when they saw Taylor. Little Shop of Horrors was performed over 2000 times before it closed in 1987. At the 1983 Drama Desk Awards, Taylor won the award for Outstanding Special Effects for his performance, which he shared with Robinson.
In the 1984 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers (musical)
The Three Musketeers is a musical with a book by William Anthony McGuire, lyrics by Clifford Grey and P. G. Wodehouse, and music by Rudolf Friml. It is based on the classic 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas, père....
at The Broadway Theatre
The Broadway Theatre
The Broadway Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1681 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan....
, Taylor played Porthos
Porthos
Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers Athos and Aramis are friends of the novel's protagonist, d'Artagnan...
, one of the three titual characters. After fifteen preview performances, the show ran just nine times before closing. Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
wrote that the musketeers were "professionally played" by Taylor and his co-stars Brent Spiner
Brent Spiner
Brent Jay Spiner is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films. His portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact and of Dr...
and Chuck Wagner
Chuck Wagner
Chuck Wagner is an American actor, Director, Musical Theatre Historian, and Teacher.-Education and early career:Wagner was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Hartsville, Tennessee. He attended public school in Gallatin, TN...
but felt the three had "little dialogue and often seem like interchangeable stand-ins for the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
." A similar view was held by William B. Collins of the Philadelphia Inquirer who said they "speak as in one voice and behave like comedians who have been stranded without good material."
It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues
Taylor created and starred in the musical revue It Ain't Nothin' But the BluesIt Ain't Nothin' But the Blues
It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues is a musical revue written by Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor, and Dan Wheetman. It was originally produced at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and later presented by the Crossroads Theatre, in association with San Diego Repertory...
, which charted the history of blues music, from its African origin to American success. He conceived the original idea for the show when he played blues musician Rufus Payne
Rufus Payne
Rufus Payne was an early 20th century American blues musician from Greenville, Alabama who was more widely known by his nickname Tee Tot.-Biography:Payne's nickname of "Tee Tot" is a pun for "teetotaler"...
in a 1987 production of Lost Highway, a play about singer Hank Williams at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts ' is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, a graduate-level training school for actors, acting classes for the community and rental...
in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. He proposed the idea to director Randal Myler who eventually accepted it in 1994. Taylor co-wrote the revue with Myler, Lita Gaithers, Charles Bevel and Dan Wheetman, and also served as its associate producer. Taylor was the revue's lead singer and acted as its narrator; his numbers included "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", "The Thrill is Gone
The Thrill Is Gone
"The Thrill Is Gone" is a blues song written by Rick Darnell and Roy Hawkins in 1951 and popularized by B.B. King in 1970.-History:The song was first recorded by Roy Hawkins, its co-author, and became a minor hit for the musician. B.B. King recorded his version of the song in June 1969 for his...
", "Blues Man" and "Let the Good Times Roll
Let the Good Times Roll (Louis Jordan song)
"Let the Good Times Roll" is a song was recorded in 1946 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, and became a # 2 hit on the R&B chart in the United States....
". It was initially performed as a 45-minute production at 25 local high schools. Due to the positive reception these received, the show was expanded to two hours and 50 songs, with three people being added to the original cast of four, and was regularly performed at the Denver Center. Taylor described the performance as "very cordial", with the audience close to performers, and that "one show is never the same as the next show because of the songs, of what they are. Blues is about how you feel today. One day, you're down; another day is real happy and giddy. We're all laughing. Randy's direction captures that. It's always so personal, bringing the audience into the piece." As well as African music, the revue includes "country, gospel, the old blues, Appalachian music," featuring music by Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
, Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
, Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
, Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
, Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
and Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
.
In 1995 the revue ran for a month at the Cleveland Play House
Cleveland Play House
The Cleveland Play House is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, OH. As of 2005, the artistic director is Michael Bloom, the eighth artistic director since its inception. In 2011 they moved operations to the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square Center.Founded in 1915,...
, in conjunction with opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
, before touring at other regional theaters. It played at the Crossroads Theatre
Crossroads Theatre
Crossroads Theatre is a prize-winning theatre located in New Brunswick, New Jersey and founded in 1978. It is the winner of the 1999 Regional Theatre Tony Award.-Mission:...
in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
for seven weeks in November 1998. It opened off-Broadway at New York's New Victory Theater in March 1999, presented by Crossroads Theatre, in association with San Diego Repertory Theatre
San Diego Repertory Theatre
The San Diego Repertory Theatre was developed out of Indian Magique, a street theater group of actors/writers/directors/producers who were fellow theatre graduates from USIU. Founded initially in 1975 by Sam Woodhouse, Christopher R, John Lee and others, they met in the loft of the old Spreckels...
and Alabama Shakespeare Festival
Alabama Shakespeare Festival
The Alabama Shakespeare Festival is the seventh largest Shakespeare festival in the world. Each year, it attracts more than 300,000 visitors from throughout the United States and more than 60 countries, to its home in Montgomery, Alabama....
. It was met with critical and audience acclaim and the following month it moved to Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. New York Times critic Lawrence Van Gelder wrote that the show had a "cornucopia of splendidly interpreted song," and "is a potent blend of visual eloquence and historical sweep that engages the eye and touches the heart while its songs soothe the ear, occasionally work mischief on the funny bone and always raise the spirits." A week after opening at the Beaumont, the show received four Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations, with Taylor being nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. The award has been presented since 1947...
and Best Book of a Musical
Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible...
. The cast's performance on the live Tony Awards show on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
was bumped due to limited time, sparking controversy, costing the show potential revenue and damaging its prospects for survival. The cast performed two days later on the CBS talkshow Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
, while media attention and radio coverage of the Tonys snub boosted the show's takings for the following two weeks. This did not last and did not "build a long-lasting audience like the Tonys could" leading the show to continue making a loss. A large word-of-mouth networking campaign to advertise the performance was set up by the producers and it moved to the Ambassador Theatre
Ambassador Theatre (New York)
The Ambassador Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 219 West 49th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp for the Shuberts, the structure is unusual in that it is situated diagonally on its site to fit the maximum number of...
; the show began to break even. The show closed in January 2000 after a total run of eight months on Broadway.
For the rest of the year the show toured at regional theaters again, running in Atlanta, San Diego and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
in Washington D.C., and returned to New York in August 2000 at the B.B. King Blues Club and Grill for a month-long run. Jim Trageser of The Press-Enterprise, in a review of one of the San Diego performances, praised Taylor's performance, saying he "has the lung power to simply take over any show, especially his own" and "shows surprising grace and athleticism as well as the kind of leonine masculinity that certain big men (Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
) possess" and also wrote positively of the writing, calling it "a superb job not only of selecting the songs, but in choosing arrangements that blow away all the cobwebs history has laid on many of them." It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues was the longest-running show Taylor appeared in, as well as his final Broadway appearance. Taylor planned an IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
film version of the production; and nine years after his death, it was revived by the New Haarlem Arts Theater at the Aaron Davis Hall
Aaron Davis Hall
Aaron Davis Hall is a Performing Arts Center in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.Aaron Davis Hall was founded in 1981 and is located on the campus of the City College of New York, between West 133rd and 135th Streets on Convent Avenue. Convent Ave. is one block east of Amsterdam Avenue...
on the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
campus.
Film, television and music
Taylor had numerous television roles. He voiced jazz musician "Bleeding Gums" Murphy on The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, appearing in the first season
The Simpsons (season 1)
The Simpsons first season originally aired between December 17, 1989 and May 13, 1990, beginning with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". The show runners for the first production season were Matt Groening, James L...
episode "Moaning Lisa
Moaning Lisa
"Moaning Lisa" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons first season, and originally aired February 11, 1990. The episode was written by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, and was directed by Wes Archer. Ron Taylor guest stars in the episode as Bleeding Gums Murphy. The episode deals with Lisa's depression and...
" (1990) and returning for the character's death in the season six
The Simpsons (season 6)
The Simpsons sixth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 4, 1994 and May 21, 1995 and consists of 25 episodes. The Simpsons is an animated series about a working class family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
episode "'Round Springfield
'Round Springfield
"Round Springfield" is the 22nd episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on April 30, 1995. In the episode, Bart is rushed to hospital after eating a jagged metal Krusty-O and decides to sue Krusty the Clown. Whilst visiting Bart, Lisa meets her old mentor, jazz musician...
" (1995). He was one of the first people to guest star on the show. Taylor was supposed to reprise his role in the season two
The Simpsons (season 2)
The Simpsons second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 22 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt...
episode "Dancin' Homer
Dancin' Homer
"Dancin' Homer" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 8, 1990. In the episode, Homer fires up the crowd at a Springfield Isotopes baseball game and is chosen to be the team's new mascot. He immediately becomes a...
", but was in New York and unable to record his part. Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
said the role gave Taylor "television immortality". He also reprised the role on a recording of Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
's song "God Bless the Child
God Bless the Child (Billie Holiday song)
"God Bless the Child" is a song written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr. in 1939, first recorded on May 9, 1941 under the Okeh label.Holiday's version of the song was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in...
" on the 1990 The Simpsons album The Simpsons Sing the Blues
The Simpsons Sing the Blues
The Simpsons Sing the Blues is the first album released as an offshoot of The Simpsons. The album contains originally recorded music not featured in the series save for the first verse of the track "Moaning Lisa Blues" which was first featured in the episode "Moaning Lisa", aired February 11, 1990...
. He appeared as a Klingon
Klingon
Klingons are a fictional warrior race in the Star Trek universe.Klingons are recurring villains in the 1960s television show Star Trek: The Original Series, and have appeared in all five spin-off series and eight feature films...
chef in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, and played wrestling instructor Coach Wingate in Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
. Other television roles included NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Profiler
Profiler (TV series)
Profiler was an American crime drama that aired on NBC from 1996 to 2000. The series follows the exploits of a criminal profiler working with the fictional FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force based in Atlanta, Georgia....
, Family Matters, Home Improvement
Home Improvement
Home Improvement is an American television sitcom starring Tim Allen, that aired from September 17, 1991 to May 25, 1999. The show was created by Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra and David McFadzean. In the 1990s, it was one of the most watched sitcoms in the American market, winning many awards...
and Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...
. He also had a recurring part in the series City of Angels, and played a blues singer in a two-part episode of Matlock
Matlock
Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire, England. It is situated at the south eastern edge of the Peak District, and forms part of the Sheffield City Region. The town is twinned with the French town Eaubonne. The former spa resort Matlock Bath lies immediately south of the town on the A6. Matlock,...
, a role that was written for him. He also appeared in more than 20 films. These included Trading Places
Trading Places
Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy film, of the satire genre, directed by John Landis, starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy. It tells the story of an upper class commodities broker and a homeless street hustler whose lives cross paths when they are unknowingly made part of an elaborate bet...
, Amos & Andrew
Amos & Andrew
Amos & Andrew is a 1993 comedy starring Nicolas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson, filmed in and around Wilmington, North Carolina. It concerns wealthy African-American playwright Andrew Sterling's purchase of a summer home on a predominantly white island.-Plot:When Andrew Sterling Amos & Andrew is a...
, A Rage in Harlem as Hank, The Mighty Quinn and Rush Hour 2
Rush Hour 2
Rush Hour 2 is a 2001 martial arts action comedy film. This is the second installment in the Rush Hour film series. A sequel to the 1998 film Rush Hour, the film stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker who respectively reprise their roles as Inspector Lee and Los Angeles police detective James Carter...
.
After a 1991 appearance on the series L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
, on which he played a singer sacked by a baseball team for "embellish[ing]" his performances of the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
", Taylor received several invitations to sing it before sports events, although never expected anything to happen when he had taken the part. He sang it before the Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
game between the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
and Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
on July 1, 1991. His rendition did not mimic that of his character: "the song is self-explanatory. I'm just going to sing the song straightforwardly and that's that." Taylor received travel and accommodation expenses but no other payment for his performance. He also sang for a Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
game, and several years later he sang the anthem before the MLB match between the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
and Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
on August 5, 1995.
Taylor was part of the blues group The Nervis Bros and performed across the United States. He also sang with Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
, Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
and Sheila E.
Sheila E.
Sheila Escovedo , known by her stage name Sheila E., is an American drummer and percussionist, perhaps best known for her work with Prince, George Duke and Ringo Starr.-Early life and Prince period:...
.
Personal life
Taylor met DeBorah Sharpe in 1977 during the production of The WizThe Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
where she was the understudy for Dorothy. They married in 1980 and had a son, Adamah. In his spare time, Taylor often helped teach vulnerable young people through a variety of projects, including at the George Street Playhouse
George Street Playhouse
George Street Playhouse is a theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, one of the state's preeminent professional theatres committed to the production of new and established plays....
in New Jersey. He noted "things have come out of the air for me...I'm grateful; that's why I work with kids. I've had a blessing in my career, to have gone as far as I've gone." A 1995 piece in The Plain Dealer described Taylor as "A jolly giant of a man, he looks like a natural force - a mountain, perhaps, who can tell great stories." Taylor was a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
.
Taylor suffered a small stroke in 1999; he was able to perform again in It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues 73 days later. He died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
aged 49, on January 16, 2002, at his home in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. His funeral took place on January 28 at the New Christ Memorial Church of God and Christ.
Films
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Trading Places Trading Places Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy film, of the satire genre, directed by John Landis, starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy. It tells the story of an upper class commodities broker and a homeless street hustler whose lives cross paths when they are unknowingly made part of an elaborate bet... |
Big Black Guy | |
| 1984 | Exterminator 2 Exterminator 2 Exterminator 2 is a 1984 action film written and directed by Mark Buntzman, starring Robert Ginty and Mario Van Peebles, with cameos by Arye Gross in his debut role, and John Turturro in his second role... |
Dude | |
| 1987 | Who's That Girl | 1st Dock Worker | |
| 1988 | Astronomy | Johnny's Dad | Short film |
| Dead Heat | Shoot Out Zombie | ||
| 1989 | The Mighty Quinn | McKeon | |
| Collision Course Collision Course (film) Collision Course is a 1989 action-comedy film starring Jay Leno as a Detroit police officer and Pat Morita as a Japanese cop forced to work together to recover a Japanese turbocharger stolen by villainous Chris Sarandon. It was directed by Lewis Teague and unreleased in the U.S. until 1992, when it... |
Auto Worker at Bowling Alley #2 | ||
| Relentless Relentless (1989 film) Relentless is a 1989 American crime film directed by William Lustig and starring Judd Nelson, Robert Loggia and Leo Rossi. The film follows two LAPD officers on a hunt for an ex-cop turned serial killer.... |
Captain Blakely | ||
| Second Sight Second Sight (film) Second Sight is a 1989 comedy film from Warner Bros., starring John Larroquette, Bronson Pinchot, Stuart Pankin and Bess Armstrong. In the film, a paranormal detective , a psychic and a nun search the streets of Boston, Massachusetts for a missing person who has allegedly been kidnapped.Although... |
Carl | ||
| 1990 | Heart Condition Heart Condition (film) Heart Condition is a 1990 fantasy-comedy film starring Denzel Washington and Bob Hoskins.-Plot:Hoskins plays police sergeant Jack Moony, a racist cop and Washington plays Napoleon Stone, an adorable but sleazy ambulance chasing lawyer whom Moony hates. Moony's years of bad habits, such as... |
Bubba | |
| Downtown Downtown (film) Downtown is a 1990 American police action comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin. This would be the second pairing of Anthony Edwards and Forest Whitaker both of whom played roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. -Plot:... |
Bruce Tucker | ||
| Masters of Menace Masters of Menace -Plot:The Masters of Menace are a motorcycle club. When one of their own dies while testing his top fuel Harley, they decide to cross the country to go bury him... |
Man at door | ||
| 1991 | A Rage in Harlem | Hank | |
| Rover Dangerfield Rover Dangerfield Rover Dangerfield is an animated feature film produced by Hyperion Pictures and released by Warner Bros., starring the voice talents of comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who also wrote and co-produced the film. It is about a street dog named Rover, who is owned by a Las Vegas showgirl. Rover gets dumped... |
Mugsy Bruno |
Voice | |
| 1992 | There Goes the Neighborhood There Goes the Neighborhood (film) There Goes the Neighborhood, released as Paydirt in most foreign countries, is a 1992 comedy film. The film tells a story of a dying prisoner who whispers the location of his loot to the facility's psychologist Willis Embry who heads to the New Jersey suburbs to find it.-Synopsis:Prison... |
Bubble Man | |
| 1993 | Amos & Andrew Amos & Andrew Amos & Andrew is a 1993 comedy starring Nicolas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson, filmed in and around Wilmington, North Carolina. It concerns wealthy African-American playwright Andrew Sterling's purchase of a summer home on a predominantly white island.-Plot:When Andrew Sterling Amos & Andrew is a... |
Sherman | |
| Deadfall | The Baby | ||
| 2001 | Ritual Ritual (film) Tales From the Crypt Presents: Ritual is the third and final film spin-off from the HBO television series Tales from the Crypt, the first being Demon Knight and the second being Bordello of Blood. The film was released in 2002 and stars Tim Curry, Jennifer Grey, and Craig Sheffer with Avi Nesher... |
Superintendent Archibald | |
| Rush Hour 2 Rush Hour 2 Rush Hour 2 is a 2001 martial arts action comedy film. This is the second installment in the Rush Hour film series. A sequel to the 1998 film Rush Hour, the film stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker who respectively reprise their roles as Inspector Lee and Los Angeles police detective James Carter... |
Television
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Robert Klein: Child of the 50's, Man of the 80's Robert Klein Robert Klein is an American stand-up comedian, singer and actor.-Early life:Klein was born in the Bronx, the son of Frieda and Benjamin Klein, and was raised in a "prototypical 1950s Bronx Jewish" environment. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School, Klein planned to study medicine... |
Irving | TV special |
| Rescue at Midnight Castle Rescue at Midnight Castle Rescue at Midnight Castle, also known as Rescue from Midnight Castle and released later as Firefly's Adventure, is a 1984 animated television special based on the Hasbro toy line, My Little Pony... |
Scorpan | TV special; voice | |
| Miami Vice Miami Vice Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989... |
Linus Oliver | Episode 1.4: "Calderone's Return: The Hit List (Part 1)" | |
| 3-2-1 Contact 3-2-1 Contact 3-2-1 Contact is an American science educational television show that aired on PBS from 1980 to 1988, and an adjoining children's magazine. The show, a production of the Children's Television Workshop, teaches scientific principles and their applications. Dr. Edward G... |
Pawn Shop Owner | Episode 3.3: "Space: Living There" | |
| 1988 | Night Court Night Court Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone... |
Attendant Cal | Episode 6.3: "Fire" |
| 1989 | Wiseguy | Monroe Blue | Episodes 2.15: "The Rip-Off Stick" and 2.16: "High Dollar Bop" |
| 1989 1990 |
Matlock Matlock (TV series) Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar... |
Deacon Holmes Tyler Mullins |
Episodes 4.9 and 4.10: "The Prisoner: Part 1" and "The Prisoner: Part 2" Episodes 5.6 and 5.7: "The Secret: Part 1" and "The Secret: Part 2" |
| 1990 | China Beach China Beach China Beach is an American dramatic television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam, which was nicknamed "China Beach" by unknown foreigners, most likely Americans... |
Mess Sergeant | Episode 3.16: "Warriors" |
| 1990 1991 |
Family Matters | Darnell Coleman Pastor Peeble |
Episode 1.15: "The Big Reunion" Episode 3.13: "Choir Trouble" |
| 1990–1991 | Twin Peaks Twin Peaks Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer... |
Coach Wingate | Episodes 2.11 and 2.12 |
| 1990–1995 | The Simpsons The Simpsons The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie... |
"Bleeding Gums" Murphy | Episodes 1.6: "Moaning Lisa Moaning Lisa "Moaning Lisa" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons first season, and originally aired February 11, 1990. The episode was written by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, and was directed by Wes Archer. Ron Taylor guest stars in the episode as Bleeding Gums Murphy. The episode deals with Lisa's depression and... " and 6.22: "'Round Springfield 'Round Springfield "Round Springfield" is the 22nd episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on April 30, 1995. In the episode, Bart is rushed to hospital after eating a jagged metal Krusty-O and decides to sue Krusty the Clown. Whilst visiting Bart, Lisa meets her old mentor, jazz musician... "; voice |
| 1991 | Amen Amen (TV series) Amen is an American television sitcom produced by Carson Productions that ran from September 27, 1986 to May 11, 1991 on NBC. Set in Sherman Hemsley's real-life hometown of Philadelphia, Amen starred Hemsley as the deacon of a church and was part of a wave of successful sitcoms on NBC in the 1980s... |
String Bean | Episode 5.11: "Ernie and the Sublimes" |
| L.A. Law L.A. Law L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,... |
Ron Miller | Episode 5.21: "On the Toad Again" | |
| Fever | Merton | TV film | |
| Home Improvement | Kyle | Episode 1.7: "Nothing More Than Feelings" | |
| 1992 | Vinnie and Bobby | Stanley | Appeared in three episodes |
| Batman: The Animated Series Batman: The Animated Series Batman: The Animated Series is an American animated series based on the DC Comics character Batman. The series featured an ensemble cast of many voice-actors including Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Arleen Sorkin, and Loren Lester. The series won four Emmy Awards and was nominated... |
Orderly | Episode 1.28: "Dreams in Darkness"; voice | |
| 1993 | Lush Life | Clerk | TV film |
| A Cool Like That Christmas | Reverend | TV film; voice | |
| 1993 1997 |
NYPD Blue NYPD Blue NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan... |
Prisoner #1 Bus driver |
Episode 1.5: "Emission Accomplished" Episode 4.16: "What a Dump!" |
| 1993–1994 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe... |
Klingon Chef | Episode 2.6: "Melora" and 2.17: "Playing God" |
| 1994 | In the Line of Duty: The Price of Vengeance | Reddick | TV film |
| The George Carlin Show The George Carlin Show The George Carlin Show is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network from January 1994 to July 1995. It was created jointly by veteran TV producer Sam Simon and the show's namesake, comedian George Carlin.-Synopsis:... |
Norman | Episode 1.3: "George Goes on a Date: Part 1" | |
| ER ER (TV series) ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television... |
Bob | Episode 1.4: "Hit and Run" | |
| 1998 | Profiler Profiler (TV series) Profiler was an American crime drama that aired on NBC from 1996 to 2000. The series follows the exploits of a criminal profiler working with the fictional FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force based in Atlanta, Georgia.... |
Fat Cat | Episode 2.11: "Ties That Bind" |
| 1999 | Ally McBeal Ally McBeal Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia... |
Singer in bar | Episode 3.7: "Saving Santa" |
| 2000 | City of Angels | Lester Bell | Appeared in three episodes |
External links
- Ron Taylor at the BroadwayWorld International Database