Ron O'Neal
Birthday: Born in 1937-09-01 in Utica, New York, USA
Deathday: 2004-01-14
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Ron O'Neal (September 1, 1937 in Utica, New York – January 14, 2004 in Los Angeles, California) was an American actor, director and screenwriter. O'Neal is most remembered for his starring role as Youngblood Priest in the blaxploitation film Super Fly and the anti-villain Cuban officer Colonel Bella in the film Red Dawn, although he also had recurring roles on the television show Living Single as Synclaire's father and as Whitley Gilbert's father on A Different World. He was also a regular on the 1982 series "Bring 'Em Back Alive" with Bruce Boxleitner in which he played the Sultan of Johore. He died in 2004 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 66 on the same day "Super Fly" was released on DVD in the US. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ron O'Neal, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
TV Credits
A Different World
Character: Mercer Gilbert
A Different World is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show and originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional mixed but historically black college in the state of Virginia. After Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert and mathematics whiz Dwayne Wayne. The series frequently depicted members of the major historically black fraternities and sororities....
Remington Steele
Character: Gabe Putnam
Laura Holt, a licensed private detective, opens a detective agency but finds that potential clients refuse to hire a woman, however qualified. To solve the problem, Laura invents a fictitious male superior whom she names Remington Steele. Through a series of events that unfold in the first episode, "License to Steele," a former thief and con man, whose real name is never revealed, assumes the identity of Remington Steele. Behind the scenes, Laura remains firmly in charge....
The Wayans Bros.
Character: Sergeant Scully
The Wayans Bros. is a situation comedy that aired from January 1995 to May 1999 on The WB. The series starred real-life brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans. Both brothers were already well-known from the sketch comedy show In Living Color that aired from 1990 to 1994 on Fox. The series also starred John Witherspoon and Anna Maria Horsford....
Beauty and the Beast
Character: Isaac Stubbs
Beauty and the Beast is an American drama series which first aired on CBS in 1987. Creator Ron Koslow's updated version of the fairy tale has a double focus: the relationship between Vincent, a mythic, noble man-beast, and Catherine, a savvy Assistant District Attorney in New York; and a secret Utopian community of social outcasts living in a subterranean sanctuary. Through an empathetic bond, Vincent senses Catherine's emotions, and becomes her guardian....
E! True Hollywood Story
Character:
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and also well-known public figures. Among the topics covered on the program include salacious re-tellings of Hollywood secrets, show-biz scandals, celebrity murders and mysteries, porn-star biographies, and "where-are-they-now?" investigations of former child stars. It frequently features in-depth interviews, actual courtroom footage, and dramatic reenactments. When aire...
Crazy like a Fox
Character:
Crazy Like a Fox is an American television series set in San Francisco, California, that aired on CBS from December 30, 1984 to May 3, 1986....
Hot l Baltimore
Character:
Hot l Baltimore was a 1975 American television situation comedy series adapted from a hit off-Broadway play by Lanford Wilson....
Bring 'Em Back Alive
Character:
Bring 'Em Back Alive is an adventure television series starring Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan and Ron O'Neal. The series was shown in the United States from September 1982 to May 1983. Set in Singapore, it was one of several shows like Tales of the Gold Monkey to try to capture the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark. In reality, Frank Buck was a real big game trapper who was very famous in the 1930s. He wrote a book entitled Bring 'Em Back Alive. He appeared in several movies including a 1932 a...
North and South
Character: William Still
The story of the enduring friendship between Orry Main of South Carolina and George Hazard of Pennsylvania, who become best friends while attending the United States Military Academy at West Point but later find themselves and their families on opposite sides of the American Civil War....
The Sophisticated Gents
Character: Clarence 'Clare' Henderson
The 25-year reunion of members of a black athletic-social club brings together nine of its members for the first time to honor their old coach but is marred by a murder investigation involving one of the gents....
Knight Rider
Character: Charles Zurich
Michael Long, an undercover police officer, is shot while investigating a case and left for dead by his assailants. He is rescued by Wilton Knight, a wealthy, dying millionaire and inventor who arranges life-saving surgery, including a new face and a new identity--that of Michael Knight. Michael is then given a special computerized and indestructible car called the Knight Industries Two Thousand (nicknamed KITT), and a mission: apprehend criminals who are beyond the reach of the law. The series ...
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones
Character: Col. Robles
The story of the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones and the 1978 mass suicide at Jonestown....
The Equalizer
Character: Lt. Isadore Smalls
Robert McCall is a former agent of a secret government agency who is now running his own private crime fighting operation where he fashions himself as "The Equalizer." It is a service for victims of the system who have exhausted all possible means of seeking justice and have nowhere to go. McCall promises to even out the odds for them....
Murder, She Wrote
Character: Sgt. Joe Santiago
An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases....
A Different World
Character: Quentin
A Different World is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show and originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional mixed but historically black college in the state of Virginia. After Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert and mathematics whiz Dwayne Wayne. The series frequently depicted members of the major historically black fraternities and sororities....
Hill Street Blues
Character: Pete
A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station....
Mathnet
Character: Sgt. Bill Dietrich
Mathnet is a segment on the children's television show Square One Television, of which five seasons were produced. This parody of Dragnet featured detectives at the Los Angeles Police Department who solved mysteries using their mathematical skills. There were two main characters: detectives Kate Monday and George Frankly. Mary Watson also had a regular role as the duo's technical analyst, Debbie Williams. The third season had the show's setting moved to New York City. Beginning in the fourth sea...
1st & Ten
Character: Mr. Byron
1st & Ten is an American situation comedy that aired between December 1984 and January 1991 on the cable television network HBO. Featuring series regulars Delta Burke and veteran Reid Shelton, it was one of cable's first attempts to lure the lucrative sit-com audience away from the "Big Three", by taking advantage of their freedom to include occasional cursing and nudity....
Hill Street Blues
Character: Stan Williams
A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station....
The Greatest American Hero
Character: Colonel
The chronicles of teacher Ralph Hinkley's adventures after a group of aliens gives him a red suit that gives him superhuman abilities. Unfortunately, Ralph, who hates wearing the suit, immediately loses its instruction booklet, and thus has to learn how to use its powers by trial and error, often with comical results....
Movie Credits
Zombie Death House
Character: Tom Boyle
A renegade federal agent uses a new drug to create an army of unbeatable warriors....
Super Fly
Character: Priest
Priest, a suave top-rung New York City drug dealer, decides that he wants to get out of his dangerous trade. Working with his reluctant friend, Eddie, Priest devises a scheme that will allow him to make a big deal and then retire. When a desperate street dealer informs the police of Priest's activities, Priest is forced into an uncomfortable arrangement with corrupt narcotics officers. Setting his plan in motion, he aims to both leave the business and stick it to the man....
A Force of One
Character: Rollins
Karate champion Matt Logan is enlisted by the police to train officers in self-defense after narcotics agents are killed by an assailant using the martial arts....
Macked, Hammered, Slaughtered and Shafted
Character: Self
Written, directed, and produced by David Walker, MACKED, HAMMERED, SLAUGHTERED, & SHAFTED is an insightful examination of the blaxploitation film movement of the 1970s. Featuring interviews with key actors and filmmakers, the documentary explores the origins of blaxploitation, and the controversial history of Hollywood's most misunderstood genre....
The Final Countdown
Character: Commander Dan Thurman
During routine manoeuvres near Hawaii in 1980, the aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz is caught in a strange vortex-like storm, throwing the ship back in time to 1941—mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor....
Puppet Master 5
Character: Dectective
Sutekh, the dark pharaoh from another dimension, sends his own puppet, Totem, to continue his quest to kill Rick and steal the magic which animates the puppets....
Brave New World
Character: Mustapha Mond
A man who grew up in a primitive society educating himself by reading Shakespeare is allowed to join the futuristic society where his parents are from. However, he cannot adapt to their repressive ways....
When a Stranger Calls
Character: Lt. Charlie Garber
A student babysitter has her evening disturbed when the phone rings. So begins a series of increasingly terrifying and threatening calls that lead to a shocking revelation....
Hero and the Terror
Character: Mayor
Danny O'Brien is back in action fighting the notorious Simon Moon, also known as The Terror. Three years earlier O'Brien had single-handedly captured The Terror and was called Hero by the people of L.A. Now Simon has escaped and has started killing women again, and O'Brien is the only man who can stop him....
BaadAsssss Cinema
Character: Self
With archive film clips and interviews, this brief look at a frequently overlooked historical period of filmmaking acts as an introduction rather than a complete record. It features interviews with some of the genre's biggest stars, like Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and Richard Roundtree. Director Melvin Van Peebles discusses the historical importance of his landmark film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. For a contemporary perspective, the excitable Quentin Tarantino offers his spirited comment...
The Master Gunfighter
Character: Paulo
Don Santiago (Richard Angarola) is a vicious man who helps provoke an Indian massacre that will allow him to steal the Indians' land and claim it as his own. However, his son-in-law, Finley (Tom Laughlin), is an expert hand with both guns and swords and will not allow him to push around the peace-loving Indians or fellow settlers of the West....
Trained To Kill
Character: George 'Cotton' Shorter
From the fields of Cambodia to the mean streets of L.A., there's no escaping death and it's blinding revenge....
Hyper Space
Character: Samuel 'Tubbs' Tubarian
In the 21st Century, the "Corporation" sends a spaceship to dispose of earth's severe nuclear waste to a distant region in the cosmos. The astronauts awaken from their "cryo-sleep" to truly cry over finding themselves marooned... their fuel is not sufficient to bring them back home. The shuttle craft on board that can accommodate no more than two passengers presents the only hope, and soon a "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" type of distrust and betrayal sets in, until one by one, only one sole sur...
Super Fly T.N.T.
Character: Priest
A Harlem drug dealer and his girlfriend retire to Rome, where he joins an African revolution....
The Hitter
Character: Otis
An ex-professional boxer gets a new start when teaming up with an ageing hoodlum and an ex-call girl....
On the Edge
Character: Frank Harris
Dakota Smith is an ex-cop and former private eye with a proclivity for community service. When a young basketball player entangles himself with drug dealers, he turns to Dak for help. Eventually goons are sent to kill the hoopster, but they hit the family of Rex Stevens by mistake. Frustrated by the incompetent and crooked police, the trio of Smith, Stevens, and their friend Frank Harris then battle the drug dealers for control of the streets. Also the heroes must tangle with Felix, a stealthy a...
Brothers
Character: Walter Nance
Thinly disguised account of the relationship between radical black activist Angela Davis and Black Panther and prison inmate George Jackson, who was one of those killed in a failed 1971 prison breakout....
Mercenary Fighters
Character: Cliff Taylor
The president of an African country wants to boost his economy with a new dam. He ignores the protests of the tribes in the flooded region, so they declare rebellion. To avoid bad publicity, the president doesn't use his army, but hires four international mercenaries, who shall find tribes leader Kuruba and smother the protest. However after learning about the tribes motivation, the Vietnam veterans T.J. and Cliff realize how they're being used and reconsider....
As Summers Die
Character: Daniel Backus
Set in a sleepy Southern Louisiana town in 1959, a lawyer, searches for justice as he volunteers to help a black woman whose property is being threatened by the Holts, the first family of the town, after she refuses to sell her valuable land....
Original Gangstas
Character: Bubba
A violent street gang, the Rebels, rule the streets of Gary, Indiana. The Rebels shoot Marvin Bookman, a store-keeper, for giving the police information about a drive-by shooting they committed. Marvin's son, former NFL star John who created the Rebels, returns to Gary to be with his father and, with a little help from his friends, to destroy the Rebels his way....
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project
Character: Self
The documentary consists of tape of Don's show (never been filmed before), interviews with Don's contemporaries, (Steve Lawrence, Bob Newhart, Debbie Reynolds, etc.), established comedians (Billy Crystal, Rosanna Barr, Robin Williams, Chris Rock, etc.) and young comedians (Jeff Atoll, Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman, etc.)....
North Beach and Rawhide
Character: Kyle Weston
"Boys Town" drama about a man named Rawhide MacGregor, a one-time ex-convict who runs a cattle ranch as a correctional facility for urban juvenile delinquents where he tries through a variety of means and choirs to redeem them from their trouble-making ways....
Playing with Fire
Character: Steve Phillips
Gary Coleman stars as a teenage arsonist. The authorities, friends, and neighbors warn his absentee parents until it is too late....
Red Dawn
Character: Bella
It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town—and their country—from invading Soviet forces....
Freedom Road
Character: Francis Cardoza
Ex-slave and former Union soldier Gideon Jackson represents other ex-slaves at the constitutional convention, and is soon elected to the U.S. Senate despite opposition from white landowners, law enforcement and the KKK. He unites with sharecropper Abner Lait, who helps Jackson unite ex-slaves and white tenant farmers....
Move
Character: Peter
A young playwright who writes porno novels to overcome a writer's block, lives the fantasies of one of his books, while trying to move with his wife from one apartment into a larger one....
The Rage Within
Character: Captain Lang
Police Officer Billy Rains (Mike Norris) and his partner Darren Steel (David Rael) are finishing their last shift together, after which Rains intends to leave for retirement in Mexico. Everything changes, however, when the pair respond to a simple call that turns deadly, leading them on a high-speed chase throughout the city and killing Rains. Paired with a new partner, Smith (Fred Williamson), Steel goes on a quest to bring justice to his murdered partner and the city....
St. Helens
Character: Otis Kaylor
Centers on the events leading up to the cataclysmic 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington, with the story beginning on the day volcanic activity started on March 20, 1980, and ending on the day of the eruption, May 18, 1980....
Hammer, Slammer, & Slade
Character: Ray Samuels
After he retires from the police force, a veteran cop is framed for robbery but his friends, a rookie and three ex-cops, come to his rescue....
The Organization
Character: Joe Peralez
After a group of young revolutionaries break into a company's corporate headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for assistance....
Up Against the Wall
Character: George Wilkes
A black teen from a Chicago housing project struggles to find acceptance after he transfers into a suburban high school....