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F r o m W i k i p e d i a , t h e f r e e e n c y c l o p e d i a
American actor (1933–1986)
Caesar in 1979
(1933-12-05 ) December 5, 1933
March 6, 1986
(1986-03-06) (aged
52 )
New York University
Actor
1969–1986
Playing Sgt. Waters in A Soldier's Play A Soldier's Story
(m. 1986)
3
Adolph Caesar (December 5, 1933 – March 6, 1986) was an American film and theater actor. Known for his signature deep voice,[1] off-Broadway as a member of the Negro Ensemble Company , and as a voiceover artist for numerous film trailers . He earned widespread acclaim for his performance as Sgt. Vernon Waters in Charles Fuller 's Pulitzer Prize -winning A Soldier's Play A Soldier's Story ,Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, and won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture .
Early life and education [ edit ]
Caesar was born in Harlem , New York City in 1933 as the youngest of three sons born to a Dominican mother and a black indigenous father.[2]
After graduating from George Washington High School in 1952, Caesar enlisted in the United States Navy during the Korean War era,[3] hospital corpsman for five years,[4] chief petty officer .[5] New York University , graduating in 1962.[3]
Early career [ edit ]
Caesar made his film debut in 1969 in Che! Juan Almeida Bosque . A year later, Caesar became an announcer for and then joined the Negro Ensemble Company in 1970 for productions such as The River Niger Square Root of the Soul , and The Brownsville Raid . Caesar also later worked with the Minnesota Theater Company, Inner City Repertory Company, and the American Shakespeare Theatre . He had a stint on the soap operas Guiding Light General Hospital
Thanks to his voice, Caesar found frequent work as a voice-over artist for television and radio commercials, including theatrical previews and radio commercials for many blaxploitation films such as Cleopatra Jones Superfly Truck Turner The Spook Who Sat by the Door United Negro College Fund 's publicity campaign, reciting the iconic slogan "...because a mind is a terrible thing to waste."
Later in his career, Caesar also lent his voice to the animated series Silverhawks [citation needed
In 1980, Caesar appeared in the infamous Bruceploitation mockumentary Fist of Fear, Touch of Death ,Bruce Lee .
A Soldier's Play [ edit ]
Caesar’s most iconic work started with his role as Army Sergeant. Vernon C. Waters in Charles Fuller 's Pulitzer Prize -winning stage drama, A Soldier's Play Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play and an Obie Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Achievement . A Soldier’s Play is set in Louisiana during World War II , just before the U.S. military was desegregated. Sgt. Waters is an ambitious Black drill sergeant who strives for recognition for African-American soldiers while detesting "Geechees ", as he terms uneducated, subservient, and unintelligent southern Blacks , as an obstacle to racial equality and the success of the future African American upper class , and who need to be removed at all costs. The play and film are a murder mystery that unfolds in flashbacks, as a Black JAG Captain investigates Sgt. Waters' murder at the beginning of the play and which the Captain eventually reveals to have been a fragging by one of Waters' own men.
In a 1985 interview with the Los Angeles Times , Caesar stated, while crafting the character of Waters, he drew on his experiences with racism in Classical theatre , "I’d studied Shakespeare to death. I knew more about Shakespeare than Shakespeare knew about himself. After I did one season at a Shakespearean repertory company, a director said to me, ‘You have a marvelous voice. You know the king’s English well. You speak iambic pentameter . My suggestion is that you go to New York and get a good colored role.' Waters has tried his best, but no matter what you do, they still hate you." Caesar subsequently coined the character's signature phrase, "They still hate you".[1]
Caesar subsequently reprised his role as Waters in Norman Jewison 's 1984 film adaptation of Fuller's play, retitled A Soldier's Story .Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture . He also won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor .
Later career [ edit ]
On the basis of his Soldier's Story success, Caesar was cast in Steven Spielberg 's The Color Purple Danny Glover 's character. He also appeared on an episode of The Twilight Zone ABC Afterschool Special Club Paradise ,
Personal life and death [ edit ]
Caesar had three children with his wife Diane, whom he was married to until his death.
Caesar was working on the Los Angeles set of the 1986 film Tough Guys Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas ) when he suffered a heart attack and died a short time later.[4] Eli Wallach . He was interred at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York .
Director
Notes
Che!
Juan Almeida
Richard Fleischer
Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle
Brutish (voice)
Picha Boris Szulzinger
English-language version
The Hitter
Nathan
Christopher Leitch
Fist of Fear, Touch of Death
Himself
Matthew Mallinson
A Soldier's Story
Sgt. Vernon Waters
Norman Jewison
The Color Purple
Old Mister Johnson
Steven Spielberg
Club Paradise
Prime Minister Solomon Gundy
Harold Ramis
Released posthumously
Television [ edit ]
Notes
The Wild Wild West
Vidoq
Episode: "The Night of the Gruesome Games"
General Hospital
Douglas Burke
The Challenge
Clarence Opano
Television film
Watch Your Mouth
Jeff Cremer
2 episodes
Guiding Light
Zamana
Tales from the Darkside
Mars Gillis
Episode: "Parlour Floor Front"
The Twilight Zone
The Supervisor
Episode: "A Matter of Minutes "
Charles Dane
Episode: "Pilot"
Dr. Rancid
Episode: "Getting Even: A Wimp's Revenge"
Hotwing / Seymour (voices)
Main cast
Theatre (partial) [ edit ]
Director
Theatre
Notes
Happy Ending / Day of Absence
Jackson
Philip Meister
St. Mark's Playhouse
Rosalee Pritchett
Robert Barron
Shauneille Perry
Lester "Bobo" Johnson
Douglas Turner Ward
Harold
Count Bellievre
Jules Irving
Vivian Beaumont Theater
Broadway debut
The Sty of the Blind Pig
Doc
Shauneille Perry
St. Mark's Playhouse
A Ballet Behind the Bridge
Lalsingh
Douglas Turner Ward
Also choreographer
Frederick Douglass...Through His Own Words
Frederick Douglass
Also playwright
Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide
The Newscaster
Dean Irby
Waiting for Mongo
Doodybug
Douglas Turner Ward
The Brownsville Raid
Pvt. James Holliman
Israel Hicks
Lucille Lortel Theatre
The Square Root of Soul
—
Perry Schwartz
As playwright
Plays from Africa
Dean Irby
St. Mark's Playhouse
A Season to Unravel
Garrison
Glenda Dickerson
Lagrima del Diablo
Aquilo
Richard Gant
A Soldier's Play
Sgt. Vernon Waters
Douglas Turner Ward
Julia Miles Theater
Awards and honors [ edit ]
Nominated work
Outcome
1985
Best Supporting Actor
A Soldier's Story
Nominated
1987
Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming
ABC Afterschool Specials ("Getting Even: A Wimp's Revenge")
Nominated
1982
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
A Soldier's Play
Won
1985
Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
A Soldier's Story
Nominated
1984
Best Supporting Actor
Won
1985
Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture
Won
1983
Outstanding Off-Broadway Achievement
A Soldier's Play
Won
References [ edit ]
^ "United States Census, 1940" . FamilySearch.org . Intellectual Reserve, Inc. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2015 .
^ a b Adolph Caesar Dies; Acted in 'Soldier's Story' The New York Times Internet Archive . Retrieved September 5, 2021.
^ a b Adolph Caesar: Fatal Heart Attack Fells Actor on Set Los Angeles Times Internet Archive . Retrieved December 19, 2021.
^ Tue, 12.05.1933 – Adolph Caesar, Actor born African American Registry. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
External links [ edit ]
Judd Hirsch (1976)
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R e t r i e v e d f r o m " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adolph_Caesar&oldid=1228911771 " C a t e g o r i e s : ● 1 9 3 3 b i r t h s ● 1 9 8 6 d e a t h s ● A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n s i n t h e K o r e a n W a r ● 2 0 t h - c e n t u r y A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n m a l e a c t o r s ● A f r i c a n - A m e r i c a n U n i t e d S t a t e s N a v y p e r s o n n e l ● A f r o - L a t i n o c u l t u r e i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ● A m e r i c a n m a l e f i l m a c t o r s ● A m e r i c a n m a l e s t a g e a c t o r s ● A m e r i c a n m a l e t e l e v i s i o n a c t o r s ● A m e r i c a n m a l e v o i c e a c t o r s ● A m e r i c a n p e o p l e o f D o m i n i c a d e s c e n t ● B u r i a l s a t F e r n c l i f f C e m e t e r y ● D r a m a D e s k A w a r d w i n n e r s ● G e o r g e W a s h i n g t o n E d u c a t i o n a l C a m p u s a l u m n i ● P e o p l e f r o m H a r l e m ● M a l e a c t o r s f r o m M a n h a t t a n ● M i l i t a r y p e r s o n n e l f r o m N e w Y o r k C i t y ● U n i t e d S t a t e s N a v y c h i e f s ● U n i t e d S t a t e s N a v y c o r p s m e n ● 2 0 t h - c e n t u r y A m e r i c a n m a l e a c t o r s H i d d e n c a t e g o r i e s : ● A r t i c l e s w i t h s h o r t d e s c r i p t i o n ● S h o r t d e s c r i p t i o n m a t c h e s W i k i d a t a ● U s e A m e r i c a n E n g l i s h f r o m O c t o b e r 2 0 2 2 ● A l l W i k i p e d i a a r t i c l e s w r i t t e n i n A m e r i c a n E n g l i s h ● U s e m d y d a t e s f r o m O c t o b e r 2 0 2 2 ● A r t i c l e s w i t h h C a r d s ● A l l a r t i c l e s w i t h u n s o u r c e d s t a t e m e n t s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h u n s o u r c e d s t a t e m e n t s f r o m J u n e 2 0 1 7 ● I B D B n a m e t e m p l a t e u s i n g W i k i d a t a ● A r t i c l e s w i t h F A S T i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h I S N I i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h V I A F i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h W o r l d C a t E n t i t i e s i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h B N E i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h B N F i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h B N F d a t a i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h C A N T I C N i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h G N D i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h J 9 U i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h L C C N i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h T r o v e i d e n t i f i e r s ● A r t i c l e s w i t h S U D O C i d e n t i f i e r s
● T h i s p a g e w a s l a s t e d i t e d o n 1 3 J u n e 2 0 2 4 , a t 2 2 : 0 4 ( U T C ) . ● T e x t i s a v a i l a b l e u n d e r t h e C r e a t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n - S h a r e A l i k e L i c e n s e 4 . 0 ;
a d d i t i o n a l t e r m s m a y a p p l y . B y u s i n g t h i s s i t e , y o u a g r e e t o t h e T e r m s o f U s e a n d P r i v a c y P o l i c y . W i k i p e d i a ® i s a r e g i s t e r e d t r a d e m a r k o f t h e W i k i m e d i a F o u n d a t i o n , I n c . , a n o n - p r o f i t o r g a n i z a t i o n . ● P r i v a c y p o l i c y ● A b o u t W i k i p e d i a ● D i s c l a i m e r s ● C o n t a c t W i k i p e d i a ● C o d e o f C o n d u c t ● D e v e l o p e r s ● S t a t i s t i c s ● C o o k i e s t a t e m e n t ● M o b i l e v i e w
