Kristoff St. John (July 15, 1966 – February 3, 2019) was an American actor best known for playing

Neil Winters Neil Winters is a fictional character from ''The Young and the Restless'', an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created and introduced by William J. Bell, the role was portrayed by Kristoff St. John from 1991 until St. John's death in 20 ...

on the CBS daytime soap opera ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

'' from 1991 until his death in 2019, which earned him two

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

from eleven nominations, and ten

NAACP Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

. He was also known for his role as Adam Marshall in the NBC soap opera ''Generations'', for which he received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations; and his role as a young

Alex Haley Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book '' Roots: The Saga of an American Family.'' ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and ...

on ABC miniseries '' Roots: The Next Generations''.

Early life

Kristoff St. John was born July 15, 1966, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and grew up in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequo ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. His father, Christopher St. John, is a producer, actor and director, while his mother, Marie, is an entertainer.

Career

As a ten-year-old child, St. John had a featuring role on the Saturday-morning comedy ''

Big John, Little John ''Big John, Little John'' is an American Saturday-morning situation comedy, produced by Sherwood Schwartz, which starred Herbert Edelman as "Big John" and Robert "Robbie" Rist as "Little John." The show first aired on September 11, 1976, on NBC, ...

'', broadcast on NBC in 1976. St. John portrayed a young

in the 1979 ABC miniseries '' Roots: The Next Generations''. He also made a small appearance as Booker Brown on the ABC sitcom ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...

'', as well as a boyfriend of Denise Huxtable on an early episode of ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

''. In his first major role, he appeared as Charlie Richmond Jr. in the 1985 CBS sitcom '' Charlie & Co.'' St. John's first major soap role was Adam Marshall on the NBC

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

, ''

Generations A generation is "all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively." Generation or generations may also refer to: Science and technology * Generation (particle physics), a division of the elementary particles * Gen ...

''. After the show's cancellation in 1991, he originated the role of

on ''

'', and played the character for 28 years; no African American actor had appeared on the series more frequently than St. John. In 1992, he won the

for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his role. On September 5, 1994, he hosted ''CBS Soap Break''.Brennan, Carol. "St. John, Kristoff 1966–." Contemporary Black Biography, edited by David G. Oblender, vol. 25, Gale, 2000, pp. 156-158. Gale eBooks. Accessed 12 Aug. 2020. In 2005, St. John became a special host for

TV Guide Channel The American cable television, cable and satellite television network Pop (American TV channel), Pop was originally launched in 1981 as a barker channel service providing a display of localized electronic program guide, channel and program listings ...

. In 2007, he received his fifth Daytime Emmy nomination. He was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor. In 2008, St. John won his second Daytime Emmy, as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In 2014, ''A Man Called God'', a documentary that St. John co-directed with his father Christopher St. John, debuted at the San Diego Black Film Festival. The film was awarded there, and at other festivals such as the American Documentary Film Festival, and the Beverly Hills Film Festival. Kristoff's final appearance as Neil aired on February 6, 2019. Late in April, it was revealed that Neil had died of a

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

Personal life

St. John was married and divorced twice. He had a son Julian (1989–2014) and a daughter Paris Nicole (born 1992) with his first wife, boxer

Mia St. John Mia Rosales St. John (born June 24, 1967) is an American professional boxer and former World Boxing Council (WBC) champion in the super welterweight division. She is also the IBA and IFBA lightweight champion. She is also a model, businesswoman, ...

. Julian died by

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

on November 23, 2014, following a long history of

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

. St. John was married to Allana Nadal from 2001 to 2007, and they had a daughter, Lola (born April 15, 2003). On August 31, 2018, he was engaged to Russian model Kseniya Olegovna Mikhaleva. St. John was a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the s ...

advocate; he appeared in two

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, a ...

ad campaigns. St. John died at his Los Angeles, California, home on February 3, 2019, at age 52. His death was ruled accidental with the cause listed as

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, or HOCM when obstructive) is a condition in which the heart becomes thickened without an obvious cause. The parts of the heart most commonly affected are the interventricular septum and the ventricles. This r ...

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John, Kristoff 1966 births 2019 deaths Accidental deaths in California Male actors from New York City African-American male actors American male child actors American male soap opera actors Burials at Valley Oaks Memorial Park Daytime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series winners American male television actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people Deaths from cardiomyopathy