Roger Robinson (May 2, 1940 – September 26, 2018) was an American actor who won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for the 2009 revival of '' Joe Turner's Come and Gone''."2009 Tony Award Winner: Roger Robinson For 'Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play'"
broadwayworld.com. June 7, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2018.

Life and career

Born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Robinson made his

Broadway debut Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

in 1969 in '' Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?'' opposite

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Al Pacino, numerous accolades: including an Aca ...

. Additional theatre credits include '' Amen Corner,'' '' The Iceman Cometh,'' and '' Seven Guitars,'' which garnered him his first Tony nomination. Robinson appeared in six of August Wilson's ten plays chronicling

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 ...

life in the 20th century. He felt the playwright's "use of language is second to none, except

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

and perhaps

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

." Robinson was the first African American to receive the Richard Seff Award, presented annually by the Actors' Equity Foundation to an actor fifty years of age or older for his performance in a supporting role in a Broadway or

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. Robinson's film credits include '' Believe in Me'' (1971), '' Willie Dynamite'' (1974), '' Newman's Law'' (1974), ''

Meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mic ...

'' (1979), '' It's My Turn'' (1980), '' The Lonely Guy'' (1984), '' Who's the Man?'' (1993), '' Wedding Daze'' (2006), and '' Brother to Brother'' (2004). The latter won him the LA Outfest Grand Jury Award Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film and a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. Robinson's television credits include the television miniseries ''

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

,'' TV-movie '' The Marcus-Nelson Murders,'' which led to a recurring role on '' Kojak,'' a regular role on the short-lived

Mary Stuart Masterson Mary Stuart Masterson (born June 28, 1966) is an American actress and director. She has starred in the films '' At Close Range'' (1986), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), '' Chances Are'' (1989), '' Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and '' Benny & ...

series '' Kate Brasher,'' and guest appearances on '' Ironside,'' '' Starsky and Hutch,'' '' The Jeffersons,'' ''

A Man Called Hawk ''A Man Called Hawk'' is an American action drama series, starring Avery Brooks, that ran on ABC from January 28 to May 13, 1989. The series is a spin-off of the crime drama series '' Spenser: For Hire'', and features the character Hawk, who ...

,'' ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering o ...

,'' '' New York Undercover,'' '' Homicide: Life on the Street,'' '' ER,'' '' Kojak,'' and '' NYPD Blue.'' On ABC's ''

How to Get Away With Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal thriller television series that premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Sh ...

'', he played Mac Harkness, the father of

Viola Davis Viola Davis (; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the only African-American to achieve the Triple Cro ...

' Annalise Keating. He also wrote material for '' Martin Lawrence Presents: 1st Amendment Stand-Up''.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Playbill.com interview, June 2, 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Roger 1940 births 2018 deaths American male stage actors American male film actors American male television actors African-American male actors Tony Award winners Male actors from Seattle 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people