Moses Gunn

Moses Gunn
Born	October 2, 1929(1929-10-02) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Died	December 17, 1993(1993-12-17) (aged 64) Guilford, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1962–1993

Moses Gunn (October 2, 1929 – December 17, 1993)^[1] was an American actor. An Obie Award-winning stage player, he co-founded the Negro Ensemble Company in the 1960s. His 1962 Broadway debut was in Jean Genet's The Blacks. He was nominated for a 1976 Tony Award as Best Actor (Play) for The Poison Tree and played Othello on Broadway in 1970.

Biography

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Mary and George Gunn, he was the eldest of seven children. After his mother died, his family splintered. Moses left home and rode the railroad at just 12 years old. He returned to St. Louis and attended school while living at the home of Jewel Richie, his English and diction teacher. In 1954, Gunn began a three-year stint in the Army. In 1959, he received his B.A. degree from Tennessee State University. After that, he studied at the University of Kansas from 1959 to 1961 in their graduate program for speech and drama; they belatedly awarded him an M.A. degree in 1989. In March 2008 it was announced that the University of Kansas will house his memorabilia.^[2] Gunn was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

An authoritative black character actor of film and TV, Gunn also enjoyed a successful career on stage. He made his New York City stage debut in the original off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks (1962). Gunn is best remembered for his portrayal of mobster Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Jonas in the first two Shaft movies, and for his brief role of Booker T. Washington in the 1981 movie Ragtime, a performance which won him an NAACP Image Award. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1977 for his role in the TV mini-series Roots. He also costarred with Avery Brooks on the TV series A Man Called Hawk. Gunn also appeared in a multi-episode story arc as atheist shop owner Carl Dixon on the sitcom Good Times, as Joe Kagan on Little House on the Prairie, and as the character Moses Gage in the 1980s NBC drama Father Murphy. He appeared on The Cosby Show episode "Grampy and Nu Nu Visit the Huxtables", as Olivia's (Raven-Symone) grandfather. His last notable role was as murder suspect Risley Tucker in "Three Men and Adena", an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. He died from the complications of asthma in Guilford, Connecticut in December 1993.

Selected filmography

• 1970 WUSA as Clotho
• 1971 Shaft as Bumpy Jonas
• 1972 Shaft's Big Score! as Bumpy Jonas
• 1972 Eagle in a Cage
• 1973 The Iceman Cometh as Joe Mott
• 1973 Kung Fu as Isaac Montoya (episode, "The Stone")
• 1972 The Hot Rock as Dr. Amusa
• 1975 Rollerball as Cletus
• 1975 Cornbread, Earl and Me as Benjamin Blackwell
• 1975 Aaron Loves Angela as Ike
• 1977 Roots as Kintango
• 1980 The Ninth Configuration as Major Nammack
• 1981 Ragtime as Booker T. Washington
• 1982 Amityville II: The Possession as Detective Turner
• 1984 The NeverEnding Story as Cairon
• 1984 Firestarter as Dr. Herman Pynchot
• 1986 Heartbreak Ridge as Staff Sergeant Webster
• 1987 Bates Motel as Henry Watson
• 1989 Amen as Benjamin Tillman
• 1989 The Women of Brewster Place
• 1990 Tales From The Crypt as Uncle Ezra in the episode, "Fitting Punishment"
• 1991 Perfect Harmony as Zeke

References

1. ^ Moses Gunn profile at The New York Times
2. ^ "Actor's Memorabilia Donated to KU Department of Theatre and Film". Kansas City infoZine News. 2008-03-04. http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/27294/. Retrieved 2008-07-28. 

External links

• Moses Gunn at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Gunn, Moses
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 2, 1929
Place of birth	St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Date of death	December 17, 1993
Place of death	Guilford, Connecticut, U.S.