Geoffrey Holder
Birthday: Born in 1930-08-01 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
Deathday: 2014-10-05
Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad of African descent, Holder was an actor known for his towering 200-centimeter (6'6") height, heavily accented deep basso voice and hearty laugh. With that and his appearance in the 1970s 7 Up soft drink "uncola" advertising campaign, Holder's image quickly became recognizable. He was also in the 1967 movie Dr. Dolittle as William Shakespeare, "Willy," and played Baron Samedi, one of the main villain's henchmen, in the 1973 James Bond film, Live and Let Die. Though the 7 Up advertising campaign lasted only a short while in the early 1970s, the company revived the campaign in the early 1980s after Holder achieved a spike in popularity in the 1982 movie version of the musical Annie, in which he played the role of Punjab. He was a prolific painter, ardent art collector, and performer who had also authored books and composed music. As a choreographer, he created dance pieces for many companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and The Dance Theatre of Harlem. Holder was married to dancer Carmen De Lavallade, whom he met when both were in the cast of Truman Capote's House of Flowers. .
TV Credits
Bear in the Big Blue House
Character: Ray the Sun
The series provides children with valuable tools for growth in key areas of music, social skill development, and cognitive learning through integrated programs combining music, movement, and exploration. With Bear and all his friends, learn about cooperation, teamwork and more....
DuPont Show of the Month
Character: Genie
DuPont Show of the Month is an acclaimed 90-minute television anthology series that aired monthly on CBS from 1957 to 1961. The DuPont Company also sponsored a weekly half-hour anthology drama series hosted by June Allyson, The DuPont Show with June Allyson. During the Golden Age of Television, DuPont Show of the Month was one of numerous anthology series telecast between 1949 and 1962. Superficially, it resembled Playhouse 90 and other anthologies, but DuPont Show of the Month focused less on ...
Cyberchase
Character: Master Pi (voice)
Cyberchase is an American/Canadian television series for children ages 7-13. The series takes place in Cyberspace, a virtual world, and chronicles the adventures of three children, Jackie, Inez, and Matt, as they use math and problem solving skills to save Cyberspace and its leader, Motherboard, from The Hacker, the villain. Cyberchase has received generally positive reviews and won numerous awards. Thirteen/WNET New York and Nelvana produced the first five seasons, while Thirteen, in associatio...
Great Performances
Character: Cheshire Cat
The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries....
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Character: Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time....
Movie Credits
Live and Let Die
Character: Baron Samedi
James Bond must investigate a mysterious murder case of a British agent in New Orleans. Soon he finds himself up against a gangster boss named Mr. Big....
Swashbuckler
Character: Cudjo
A pirate and a hot-tempered noblewoman join forces to protect Jamaica from a tyrant....
Going, Going, Almost Gone! Animals in Danger
Character:
An urgent plea to protect creatures from man's insensitivity and greed. The program offers clear explanations of why the survival of sea turtles, humpbacked whales, tiger, bears and other threatened animals is essential to the balance of nature....
Annie
Character: Punjab
An orphan in a facility run by the mean Miss Hannigan, Annie believes that her parents left her there by mistake. When a rich man named Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks decides to let an orphan live at his home to promote his image, Annie is selected. While Annie gets accustomed to living in Warbucks' mansion, she still longs to meet her parents. So Warbucks announces a search for them and a reward, which brings out many frauds....
Doctor Dolittle
Character: William Shakespeare X
A veterinarian who can communicate with animals travels abroad to search for a giant sea snail....
Tropical Rainforest
Character: Narrator
The story of the evolution of tropical rain forests, their recent and rapid destruction, and the intense efforts of scientists to understand them even as they disappear. This film gives viewers a better appreciation of the importance of tropical rain forests on a global scale....
Goggles!
Character: (voice)
Two boys discover a pair of lensless motorcycle goggles, and have to outsmart some older boys before they can have fun with their new treasure....
Krakatoa, East of Java
Character: Sailor
A team of maritime salvage workers are about to embark on a recovery dive. However the 1883 Krakatoa Volcano eruption provides more pressing problems....
Chance or Coincidence
Character: Gerry
Once a successful dancer, Miriam has abandoned her career to bring up her son, Serge, after her boyfriend walked out of her....
The Magistical
Character: Narrator
Once upon a time a guardian was chosen to watch over all living things. She was called The Magistical. Hoping to preserve all precious life, The Magistical created a spell. This spell granted the last of every type of creature, immortality. However, to one very evil Draken, the spell would carry a very different meaning than intended. By killing all other Drakens, she would become the last. Without fear of death, such a beast could rule the world. Now only one baby cub stands between her and her...
Ghost of a Chance
Character: Johnson
A television movie about a veteran policeman who accidentally kills a musician. The ghost of the musician returns to persuade the cop to steer the musician's grandson away from drug peddlers and into a life of music....
Alice in Wonderland
Character: Cheshire Cat
From the elaborate Broadway revival of the 1932 Eva Le Gallienne/Florida Friebus production comes a whimsical retelling of the Lewis Carroll classic....
Bond 1973: The Lost Documentary
Character: Self
Original 1973 short promotional documentary on the making of the 8th James Bond movie Live and Let Die (1973)....
Night of 100 Stars III
Character: Self
A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy....
Aladdin
Character: Genie
Cole Porter's version of the story of Aladdin--his only musical written especially for television....
Boomerang
Character: Nelson
Marcus is a successful advertising executive who woos and beds women almost at will. After a company merger he finds that his new boss, the ravishing Jacqueline, is treating him in exactly the same way. Completely traumatised by this, his work goes badly downhill....
Night of 100 Stars II
Character: Self
This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities....
Christmas
Character: Ghost of Christmas Future
An adaptation of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol " with Robert Guillaume as John Grin, the Scrooge character. His son Kevin has a role as the Bob Cratchit character, with Geoffrey Holder and Ted Lange as two of the Ghosts....
The Noah
Character: Friday
Noah, the sole remaining survivor on our planet after a nuclear holocaust, finds himself unable to to accept his unique predicament. To cope with his loneliness, he creates an imaginary companion, then a companion for his companion and finally an entire civilization - a world of illusion in which there is no reality but Noah, no rules but those of the extinct world of his memory - our world....
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask
Character: Sorcerer
A collection of seven vignettes, which each address a question concerning human sexuality. From aphrodisiacs to sexual perversion to the mystery of the male orgasm, characters like a court jester, a doctor, a queen and a journalist adventure through lab experiments and game shows, all seeking answers to common questions that many would never ask....
The Gold Bug
Character: Jupiter
Shortly after the Civil War, while exploring the long deserted and reputedly haunted Sullivan's Island off Charleston S.C., a boy encounters two obsessed eccentrics living there. These men chase him away and warn him never to return or to tell anyone about them. Soon, however, they locate him and summon him back, because he has unknowingly given them a clue vital to their quest and they need his help to unravel the rest of the mystery. If he can do so, they will find buried pirate treasure and a...
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Character: Narrator (voice)
A young boy wins a tour through the most magnificent chocolate factory in the world, led by the world's most unusual candy maker....
All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story
Character: Self
Documentary profile of singer-actress Eartha Kitt....
Androcles and the Lion
Character: Lion
The story of Androcles, the simple-hearted Christian tailor whose friendship with a lion saves himself and his friends from martyrdom in the Roman Colosseum....
Carib Gold
Character: Voo Doo Dancer
The hard-working but struggling crew of a shrimp boat discover a sunken treasure. Trouble ensues in this dramatic black-cast production....
Bear in the Big Blue House LIVE! - Surprise Party
Character: Ray
It's Tutter's birthday and viewers are invited to join Bear and the gang in the Big Blue House as they work together to plan a surprise party for Tutter. This stage production features many of the voices from the show and many of its songs as well....
The Man Without a Country
Character: Slave on Ship
At his court-martial, an American Army officer renounces his country. For his punishment he is ordered to spend the rest of his life on a ship that sails all over the world, but he will never be allowed to set foot on his country's soil, nor come within sight of it, nor be allowed to know anything about the country....
Goosed
Character: Dr. Bowman
Sheltered rich girl Charlene has an over-protective mother who insists that her daughter should marry a rich doctor. After Charlene's psychic predicts that her future lover is named Steven, she heads to L.A. to search for him....