Geoffrey Lamont Holder (August 1, 1930 – October 5, 2014) was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, director, choreographer, and artist. He was a principal dancer for the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

Ballet, before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance in '' Carib Gold''. For his theatre work, he won two

Tony Awards 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 cere ...

, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Costume Design in a Musical for the original Broadway production of ''The Wiz''. In 1973, he played the villainous Baron Samedi in the James Bond film '' Live and Let Die''. He also appeared in such films as '' Doctor Dolittle'' (1967), '' Annie'' (1982), '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005), and was the voice of Ray the Sun on the children's television series '' Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1998–2002). He also carried out advertising work as the pitchman for 7 Up. Holder was a member of the executive committee of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group.

Early life

Born in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, on August 1, 1930, Holder was one of four children of Barbadian and Trinidadian descent born to Louise de Frense and Arthur Holder. He was educated at Tranquility School and

Queen's Royal College Queen's Royal College (St Clair, Port of Spain, St.Clair, Trinidad), referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by alumni, is a secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Originally a boarding school and grammar school, the Secularity, secular c ...

in Port of Spain. He made his performance debut at the age of seven in his brother Boscoe Holder's dance company.

Career

After seeing Holder perform in St. Thomas,

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

the choreographer Agnes de Mille invited him to work with her in New York. Upon arriving, he joined Katherine Dunham's dance school, where he taught folkloric forms for two years. From 1955 to 1956, he performed with the

Ballet as a principal dancer. Previously, he made his Broadway debut in the 1954

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

and

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics ...

musical '' House of Flowers.'' While working on ''House of Flowers'', Holder met Alvin Ailey, with whom he later worked extensively, and Carmen de Lavallade, his future wife. After the show closed he starred in an all-black production of '' Waiting for Godot'' in 1957. Holder began his movie career in the 1962 British film '' All Night Long'', a modern remake of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's '' Othello''. He followed that with '' Doctor Dolittle'' (1967) as Willie Shakespeare, leader of the natives of Sea-Star Island. In 1972, he was cast as the Sorcerer in '' Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)''. The following year he was a henchman— Baron Samedi—in the Bond movie '' Live and Let Die''. Holder contributed to the film's choreography. In the film, his character was meant to fall into a coffin of live snakes, about which Holder had a phobia. He considered refusing to do the stunt but agreed to do it when it was revealed that Princess Alexandra would be visiting the set. In addition to his movie appearances, Holder was a spokesman in

advertising campaign An advertising campaign or marketing campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ide ...

s for the

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

7 Up in the 1970s and 1980s, declaring it the "uncola", and, in the 1980s, calling it "crisp and clean, and no caffeine; never had it, never will". In 1975, Holder won two

for direction and costume design of '' The Wiz'', the all-black musical version of '' The Wizard of Oz''. Holder was the first black man to be nominated in either category. He won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design. The show ran for 1672 performances. As a choreographer, Holder created dance pieces for many companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, for which he provided choreography, music, and costumes for ''Prodigal Prince'' (1967), and the Dance Theatre of Harlem, for which he provided choreography, music, and costumes for ''Dougla'' (1974), and designed costumes for ''Firebird'' (1982). In 1978, Holder directed and choreographed the Broadway musical '' Timbuktu!'' Holder's 1957 piece "Bele" is also part of the Dance Theater of Harlem repertory. Holder portrayed Jupiter, the hulking manservant of an ill-fated treasure-hunter ( Roberts Blossom), in a 1980 made-for-television adaptation of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

's '' The Gold-Bug'' which also starred Anthony Michael Hall. In

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

's 1982 film adaptation of the hit stage musical '' Annie'', Holder played the role of Punjab, Albert Finney's bodyguard. Holder portrayed the Ghost of Christmas Future in ''John Grin's Christmas'', a 1986 variation on

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

's ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

'' directed by its star, Robert Guillaume. Holder portrayed Nelson in the 1992 film ''

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

'' with

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...

. He was also the voice of Ray in '' Bear in the Big Blue House'' and provided narration for

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

's 2005 film version of

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

's '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''. He reprised his role as the 7 Up spokesman in the 2011 season finale of '' The Celebrity Apprentice'', where he appeared as himself in a commercial for "7 Up Retro" for

Marlee Matlin Marlee Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, activist, and author. Deafness, Deaf since she was 18 months old, Matlin is known for her portrayals of deaf women, and for her activism on behalf of deaf individuals in Cinema of the ...

's team. In 1990, Holder performed at the

62nd Academy Awards The 62nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1989 and took place on March 26, 1990, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p ...

, singing " Kiss the Girl" and " Under the Sea" from '' The Little Mermaid''. In 1993, Holder did a series of commercials for the Armory Auto Group auto dealership in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

. Holder was a prolific painter (patrons of his art included

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

and William F. Buckley, Jr.), ardent art collector, book author, and music composer. As a painter, he won a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in fine arts in 1956. A book of his photography, ''Adam'', was published by Viking Press in 1986. In 2024, the Victoria Miro Gallery in London showed the joint exhibition ''Boscoe Holder , Geoffrey Holder'', in which, according to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''s reviewer, "radiant, sensual paintings of black men and women reflect just how far ahead of their time the Holder brothers were", and which was described by Nicole-Rachelle Moore as "full of magic that is both familiar and incredible". A new text by Attillah Springer entitled ''Vetiver and Turpentine'' accompanied the show.

Personal life

Holder married Carmen de Lavallade in 1955. They spent their lives in New York City and had one son, Léo. They were the subject of a 2005 documentary, ''Carmen & Geoffrey''. His elder brother Boscoe Holder was a dancer, choreographer, and artist, whose son Christian Holder also won acclaim as a dancer, choreographer, and entertainer.

Death

Geoffrey Holder died in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

of complications from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on October 5, 2014, aged 84.

Productions

Broadway

*'' House of Flowers'', Original Musical, 1954 – Banda dance choreography, performer *''

Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...

'', musical review, 1954 – Performer *'' Waiting for Godot'', revival (all

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

cast), 1957 – Performer *'' The Wiz'', original musical, 1975 – Direction, costume design (Tony Award for Best Costume Design and Best Direction of a Musical, 1975) *'' Timbuktu!'', original musical, 1978 – Direction, choreography, costume design, playbill cover illustration *''The Wiz'', revival, 1984 – Direction, costume design * The Boys' Choir of Harlem and Friends, staged concert, 1993 – Staging

Radio

* KYOT-FM in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, 1994–2011 – Voiceover

Filmography

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links