Geoffrey Holder

Birth Name:

Geoffrey Lamont Holder

Birth Place:

Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago

Profession

Actor, Composer

In 1957, he was a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship to study painting
Married fellow actress Carmen De Lavallade in 1955 and had a son named Léo
Began his dancing career at the age of 7 when he joined the Holder Dancing Company
Got his big break when he was discovered by choreographer Agnes de Mille, who invited him to New York in 1954
Made his Broadway debut alongside Diahann Carroll in "House of Flowers" in 1954
Quote: "I create for that innocent little boy in the balcony who has come to the theater for the first time․ He wants to see magic, so I want to give him magic․ He sees things that his father couldn't see․"
Appeared as the Voodoo villain Baron Samedi in "Live and Let Die" and the Indian servant Punjab in 1982's "Annie․"
During the 1950s, he taught dance classes at the Katherine Dunham School
Was the "the Uncola" television pitchman for the soft drink 7Up in the 1970s and 1980s
In order to make the trip to New York in 1954 he had to sell 20 of his paintings
Published a book on Caribbean folklore called "Black Gods, Green Islands" in 1959

Fast Facts