Cleavon Little

Cleavon Little
Little in Blazing Saddles (1974)
Born	Cleavon Jake Little June 1, 1939(1939-06-01) Chickasha, Oklahoma, United States
Died	October 22, 1992(1992-10-22) (aged 53) Sherman Oaks, California, United States
Occupation	actor
Years active	1964 – 1992
Spouse	Valerie Wiggins (1972 – 1974)

Cleavon Jake Little (June 1, 1939 – October 22, 1992) was an American film and theatre actor.

Little was widely known for his lead role as Sheriff Bart in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles. He also was the irreverent Dr. Jerry Noland in the early 1970s sitcom Temperatures Rising.

In 1978, he played "The Prince of Darkness" in the radio station comedy FM, previously having played the role of radio personality Super Soul in the 1971 action film Vanishing Point. His later work included the 1984 film Toy Soldiers.^[1]

Early life

Little was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma and was the brother of singer DeEtta Little, best known for her performance of Gonna Fly Now, the main theme to Rocky. He grew up in California and attended college initially at San Diego City College, and then at San Diego State University where he earned a bachelor's degree in dramatic arts. After receiving a full scholarship to graduate school Juilliard he moved to New York. After completing studies at Juilliard, Little trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.^[2]

Career

Little made his professional debut in February 1967, appearing Off-Broadway at The Village Gate as the Muslim Witch in the original production of Barbara Garson's MacBird. This was followed by the role of Foxtrot in the original production of Bruce Jay Friedman's long-running play Scuba Duba which premiered in October 1967.

The following year, he made his first film appearance in a small uncredited role in What's So Bad About Feeling Good?, as well as his first television appearance as a guest star on two episodes of Felony Squad. A series of small roles followed in films like John and Mary (1969) and Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970).

Little made his Broadway debut in 1969 as Lee Haines in John Sebastian and Murray Schisgal's musical Jimmy Shine with Dustin Hoffman in the title role. In 1971, he returned to Broadway to portray the title role of Ossie Davis's musical Purlie, for which he won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

A year later, Little was hired as an ensemble player on the syndicated TV variety weekly The David Frost Revue and he portrayed Shogo in Narrow Road to the Deep North on Broadway.

In 1971, Little was chosen to portray the blind radio personality Super Soul in the car-chase movie Vanishing Point. That same year, Little played Hawthorne Dooley in an episode of The Waltons called "Homecoming: A Christmas Story," helping John Boy Walton search for his father.

He then starred in the ABC sitcom Temperatures Rising, which aired in three different iterations from 1972–74, with Little's character of Dr. Jerry Noland as the only common element.

Concurrently, he was cast as Sheriff Bart in the 1974 comedy film Blazing Saddles, after the studio rejected Richard Pryor, who co-wrote the script. Studio execs were apparently nervous over Pryor's reputation as a racy comedian and thought Little would be a safer choice.^[3] This role earned him a BAFTA Award nomination as Most Promising Newcomer.

He ended up in a supporting role for Richard Pryor in the racing movie Greased Lightning (1977), based on the true life story of Wendell Scott, the first black stock car racing champion in America.

In 1975, Little returned to Broadway to portray the role of Lewis in the original production of Murray Schisgal's All Over Town under the direction of Dustin Hoffman. The following year, he appeared as Willy Stepp in the original production of Ronald Ribman's The Poison Tree at the Ambassador Theatre.

Later career

After Blazing Saddles, Little appeared in many less successful films, such as Greased Lightning, FM, High Risk, Scavenger Hunt, Jimmy the Kid and Toy Soldiers. Little also made guest appearances on The Mod Squad, The Waltons, The Rookies, Police Story, All In The Family, The Rockford Files, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, ABC Afterschool Specials, The Fall Guy and ALF.

In 1989, he appeared in the episode Stand By Your Man of Dear John and won the Outstanding Guest Actor Emmy, defeating Robert Picardo, Jack Gilford, Leslie Nielsen and Sammy Davis, Jr.^[4]

Little had a part in Fletch Lives, the sequel to 1985's Fletch. He co-starred opposite Lauren Hutton and Jim Carrey in the 1985 horror comedy Once Bitten.

Little was slated to star in the TV series Mr. Dugan, where he was to play a black Congressman, but that series was poorly received by real black Congressmen and was canceled before making it to air. He replaced Frankie Faison as Ronald Freeman, a black dentist married to Ellen Freeman, a white housewife, on the short-lived FOX sitcom True Colors.

In 1988, Little returned to Broadway to appear as Midge in Herb Gardner's Tony Award-winning play I'm Not Rappaport reuniting with Dear John series star Judd Hirsch in New York and later on tour. The Broadway cast also featured Jace Alexander and Mercedes Ruehl.

In 1991, Little was cast as a civil rights lawyer in the TV docu-drama, Separate But Equal, starring Sidney Poitier, who portrayed the first black U. S. Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, NAACP lead attorney in the 1954 Supreme Court case desegregating public schools. He also played in the MacGyver series as Frank Colton, half of a bounty hunter brother duo.

Death

Little's last appearance was a guest part on an episode of Tales from the Crypt. Often afflicted by ulcers and general stomach problems during his life, Little died of colorectal cancer on October 22, 1992 at age 53.^[5] His remains were cremated.

References

1. ^ "Cleavon Little Biography". filmreference. http://www.filmreference.com/film/25/Cleavon-Little.html. Retrieved 2008-06-07. 
2. ^ "Biography: Cleavon Little". Allmovie. http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:42706~T0. Retrieved 2008-06-07. 
3. ^ "Cleavon Little Trivia". The Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001476/bio. Retrieved 2008-06-07. 
4. ^ "The 50th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1989)". The Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Emmy_Awards/1989. Retrieved 2008-06-07. 
5. ^ "Cleavon Little, Award-Winning Actor, Dies at 53". New York Times. October 23, 1992. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F1061FF63E580C708EDDA90994DA494D81. Retrieved 2010-10-28. "Cleavon Little, the actor best remembered for his role as a black sheriff hired to save a redneck town in Mel Brooks's 1974 comedy "Blazing Saddles," died yesterday at his home in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He was 53 years old. He died of colon cancer, said David C. Pollick, his publicity agent in Los Angeles." 

External links

Biography portal

• Cleavon Little at Find a Grave
• Cleavon Little at the Internet Broadway Database
• Cleavon Little at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Cleavon Little at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Little, Cleavon
Alternative names
Short description	American actor
Date of birth	June 1, 1939
Place of birth	Chickasha, Oklahoma
Date of death	October 22, 1992
Place of death	Sherman Oaks, California