Cleavant Derricks Jr. (born May 15, 1953) is an American stage and screen actor,

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

winning singer and songwriter, who may be best known for his role of Rembrandt Brown on '' Sliders''.

Biography

Derricks was born in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, to pianist mother Cecile G. and

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

preacher/composer Cleavant Derricks Sr., known for his popular gospel music hymn " Just a Little Talk with Jesus". His twin brother is actor and musician Clinton Derricks-Carroll. Derricks began his career as a Nashville gospel songwriter. With his father, he wrote the gospel album ''Satisfaction Guaranteed''. He was the musical director and composer for the musical ''When Hell Freezes Over I'll Skate''. Derricks went to New York City to study acting with Vinnette Carroll at the Urban Arts Theatre. He received rave reviews for his performance in his Broadway shows, including ''But Never Jam Today'' and the 1977 revival of '' Hair''. He also won the

Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality featured roles in a musi ...

and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, for creating the role of James "Thunder" Early in ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. It is based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, and p ...

''. Off-Broadway he was in the

William Finn William Alan Finn (February 28, 1952 – April 7, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist. He was best known for his musicals, which include ''Falsettos'', for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Tony Award for Best Original Score, Best O ...

musical '' Romance in Hard Times'' in 1989. He also starred in the Broadway musical ''

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

'' as the Streetsinger. Soon afterwards, Derricks appeared in films such as '' Moscow on the Hudson'',

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

's ''

The Slugger's Wife ''The Slugger's Wife'' is a 1985 romantic comedy film about a baseball star who falls for a singer. Written by Neil Simon, directed by Hal Ashby and produced by Ray Stark, the film stars Michael O'Keefe, Rebecca De Mornay and Randy Quaid. It w ...

'' and

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Amongst his Wes Craven filmography, prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the Horror film, horror genre, particularly sla ...

's ''Carnival of Souls''. He was a series regular on the short-lived television series '' Thea'' with

Thea Vidale Thea R. Vidale (born November 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. Vidale is perhaps best known for her role as Thea Armstrong-Turrell in the ABC sitcom '' Thea'', which originally aired from 1993 until 1994. Vidale is noted a ...

and

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

, and ''Good Sports'' with

Farrah Fawcett Farrah Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played a ...

and

Ryan O'Neal Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal (April 20, 1941 – December 8, 2023) was an American actor. Born in Los Angeles, he trained as an amateur boxer before beginning a career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ...

. His role as Rembrandt Brown on '' Sliders'' with Jerry O'Connell,

Sabrina Lloyd Sabrina Lloyd (born November 20, 1970) is a retired American film and television actress. She is known for portraying Wade Welles in the science fiction series '' Sliders'', Natalie Hurley in the ABC sitcom '' Sports Night'' and Kelly in '' Fathe ...

and

John Rhys-Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor known for portraying Gimli (Middle-earth), Gimli in The Lord of the Rings (film series), ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy and Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise. He has received three ...

was the only ''Sliders'' character to appear throughout the entire series. In addition, Derricks has had numerous guest-starring roles in series such as ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...

'', ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of '' The Cosby Show''. It aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987, to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

'', ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

'', '' Spenser: For Hire'', ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...

'', and many others. In 2019, Derricks took over the role of the Wizard of Oz in the 2nd U.S. tour of ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * ''Wicked'' (Maguire novel), a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', a 1997 novel series collaboration between Australian children's authors Paul Jennings and Morris ...

''. He reprised the role in 2022 on Broadway. In summer 2024, he’ll star as Joe in ''

Waitress Waiting staff ( BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food and drink as requested. Waiting staff ...

'' at Ogunquit Playhouse.Desi Oakley, Kennedy Kanagawa, Cleavant Derricks, More Will Star in Ogunquit Playhouse Waitress
/ref>

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

* '' Dreamgirls: Original Broadway Cast Album'' (1982) * ''Beginnings'' (1999) * ''Brooklyn'' (2004)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Derricks, Cleavant 1953 births Living people African-American musicians American male film actors American male musical theatre actors American male television actors Drama Desk Award winners Identical twin male actors Male actors from Knoxville, Tennessee Tony Award winners American twin actors 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors