Joe Seneca

Joe Seneca (January 14, 1919 – August 15, 1996) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He is known for his roles as Willie Brown in '' Crossroads'' (1986), Dr. Meadows in '' The Blob'' (1988), and Dr. Hanes in ''The Cosby Show'', among others.

Life and career

Seneca was born Joel McGhee Jr. in Cleveland, Ohio.

;Music
Before his acting career, he belonged to the R&B singing group The Three Riffs, which was active from the late 1940s to the mid 1970s, and performed at upscale supper clubs in New York City.

He was also a songwriter and had big hits with " Talk to Me", sung by Little Willie John, and " Break It to Me Gently," which was a smash hit by Brenda Lee in 1962 and by Juice Newton in 1982.

;Theatre
In the early 1970s, Seneca transitioned into acting, beginning in regional theatre at the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference in Waterford, Connecticut. He debuted on Broadway in ''Of Mice and Men'' with James Earl Jones (1974). In 1981, he performed in '' The Little Foxes'' with Elizabeth Taylor. In 1982, he had a role in ''Rhinestone'', an off-Broadway musical. Seneca could play piano, but in the 1984 Broadway production of August Wilson's play, '' Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'', he was asked to portray the old blues trombonist, Cutler. He learned the trombone specifically for the part.

;Film
Seneca's theatrical film career includes ''The Verdict'' (1982), in which he played Dr. Thompson, a small-town women's hospital physician brought in by attorney Frank Galvin (Paul Newman) to support his belief that two famous doctors' incompetence left his client alive but in a coma. Arguably his most well-known role is blues-man Willie Brown in '' Crossroads'' (1986). He also played Dr. Meddows in '' The Blob'' (1988), the evil head of a government team who created, and was sent to contain, the title creature. That same year, Seneca appeared in Spike Lee's ''School Daze'' as Mission College President McPherson.

;Television
On television he appeared in more than twenty series, including ''The Cosby Show'' as Hillman President, Dr. Zachariah J. Hanes. He also played Alvin Newcastle, a man suffering from Alzheimer's disease, on ''The Golden Girls'' in the 1987 episode "Old Friends". That same year, He appeared in Michael Jackson's music video " The Way You Make Me Feel." On '' The Equalizer'' he played Fossil Williams, a mission worker looking after the spiritual and physical well-being of the down-and-out homeless of Skid row in The Bowery neighborhood of New York City in the episode, " 17 Zebra". He played Eddie Haynes on '' Matlock'' in the "The Blues Singer" (1989). Seneca played "Blind Otis Lemon" (based on Muddy Waters), a homeless blues legend who gets one last chance to sing and play in a club the night before an operation that may leave him deaf in the '' Doogie Howser, M.D.'' episode " Doogie Sings the Blues" (1990). He later played murder witness Lionel Jackson in the ''Law & Order'' episode " Profile" (1993).

He also appeared in several television films, including ''Wilma'' (1977), '' The House of Dies Drear'' (1984), ''A Gathering of Old Men'' (1987), and ''The Vernon Johns Story'' (1994). Seneca's final screen role was portraying Whitechaple in the British television film ''The Longest Memory'' (1997) which he completed just two weeks prior to his death.

Death

He died at his home on Roosevelt Island, New York City from coronary arrest after an asthma attack August 15, 1996, at the age of 77. He was married to his wife, Betty Seneca, until his death.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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1919 births
1996 deaths
Songwriters from Ohio
American male film actors
American male television actors
Male actors from Cleveland
People from Roosevelt Island
20th-century African-American male actors
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
Deaths from asthma
20th-century American male singers
20th-century African-American male singers
American male songwriters
20th-century American songwriters
American stage actors

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