Gilbert Price (September 10, 1942 – January 2, 1991) was an American operatic baritone and actor. Price was a

protégé Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, H ...

. He was a life member of New York's famed

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founde ...

. Price first gained notice in 1964, for his performances in Hughes'

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

production of ''

Jerico-Jim Crow ''Jerico-Jim Crow'' is a 1964 musical, with a book written by Langston Hughes and William Hairston. It was a pioneering work in the urban contemporary gospel musical style, based on the themes of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. A ...

.'' For his work, Price received a

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre s ...

Early life

Price was born on September 10, 1942, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

heritage. In 1960, he graduated from

Erasmus Hall High School Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Aca ...

, where he stood out for both his talent and gentle, easygoing manner. It has been written that while he was a protégé of Langston Hughes, Hughes had become smitten with the young Price. Unpublished love poems by Hughes were addressed to a man Hughes called ''Beauty''; it has been posited these poems referred to Price.

Career

Price made guest appearances on several television talk and variety shows including ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'', Red Skelton, Garry Moore and '' The Merv Griffin Show''. Price also sang

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

s, including Leonard Bernstein's Mass, in 1971.

Awards

Price was nominated for three

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the 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 ...

s and was the recipient of a

:Theatre World Award Recipients
Theatre World Awards; retrieved November 22, 2014. * ''

'' (1964) – Theatre World Award * ''

Lost in the Stars ''Lost in the Stars'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' (1948) by Alan Paton. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1949; it was the composer's last wor ...

'' (1972) – Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical * '' The Night That Made America Famous'' (1975) – Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical * ''

Timbuktu! ''Timbuktu!'' is a musical, with lyrics by George Forrest and Robert Wright, set to music by Borodin, Forrest and Wright. The book is by Luther Davis. It is a resetting of Forrest and Wright's musical '' Kismet''. The musical is set in 1361 in T ...

'' (1978) – Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical

Other works

* ''Fly Blackbird'' (1962) -

C. Bernard Jackson C. Bernard Jackson (November 4, 1927 – July 16, 1996) was an African-American playwright and the founder of the Inner City Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Inner City was one of the first arts institutions in the United States to promote mul ...

& James Hatch * '' The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd'' (1965) -

Leslie Bricusse Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films '' D ...

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leadin ...

* ''Promenade'' (1969) - Maria Irene Fornes & Al Carmines * '' 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue'' (1976) -

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

Alan Jay Lerner Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatr ...

Death

Price died in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, in 1991 of accidental

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that ca ...

tion due to a faulty

space heater A space heater is a device used to heat a single, small to medium sized area. Operation Electric space heaters fall into four main categories: fan heaters, ceramic, infrared, and oil-filled. * Fan heaters are the cheapest, but are often the ...

. He was 48 years old.

References

External links

* *
Gilbert Price Obituary
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' *Find A Grave

1942 births 1991 deaths American male musical theatre actors American baritones American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from New York City African-American male actors Deaths from asphyxiation Erasmus Hall High School alumni 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century African-American male singers {{US-screen-actor-1940s-stub