Biography for
Brock Peters More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

2 July 1927, New York City, New York, USA

Date of Death

23 August 2005, Los Angeles, California, USA (pancreatic cancer)

Birth Name

George Fisher

Height

6' 2" (1.88 m)

Mini Biography

Born of African and West Indian parentage in New York City, Brock Peters set his sights on a show business career early on, at age ten. A product of NYC's famed Music and Arts High School, Peters initially fielded more odd jobs than acting jobs as he worked his way up from Harlem poverty. Landing a stage role in "Porgy and Bess" in 1949, he quit physical education studies at CCNY and went on tour with the acclaimed musical. His film debut came in Carmen Jones (1954), but he really began to make a name for himself - having dropped his real name, George Fisher, in 1953 - in such films as To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and The L-Shaped Room (1962). He received a Tony nomination for his starring stint in Broadway's "Lost in the Stars". Brock Peters died at age 78 of pancreatic cancer on August 23, 2005.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom Weaver <TomWeavr@aol.com>

Spouse

Dolores Daniels

(29 July 1961 - 25 February 1989) (her death) 1 child

Trade Mark

Deep voice

Trivia

Sang background vocals on Harry Belafonte's hits "Banana Boat (Day-O)" and "Mama Look At Bubu".

Has one daughter, Lise Jo

He played Darth Vader in the NPR radio dramatizations of "Star Wars" (1981), "The Empire Strikes Back" (1983), and "Return of the Jedi" (1996).

Read the eulogy at the funeral of Gregory Peck, on June 16, 2003. Peters played Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - the black man accused of raping a white girl that Atticus Finch (Peck's character) defended in court.

His accolades include a National Film Society Award, a Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild, and a nomination for Broadway's 1973 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for "Lost in the Stars".

Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1993

He had a longtime companion, Marilyn Darby.

Inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1976.

He provided the singing voice for the song "Whizzin' Away Along De Track" in Carmen Jones (1954), performed on screen by Roy Glenn.

Buried at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, California. Revelation Section Plot Number 3529 next to his wife DiDi. The cemetery is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Glendale, California. It borders Griffith Park and has spectacular views of Hollywood and the valley.

Not counting Frank Welker's voice in "Star Wars"-related video games, he and Clive Revill are the only "Star Trek" actors who have also played characters from "Star Wars", and they both played Sith Lords. Revill was the original voice of Darth Sidious in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Peters played Darth Vader in the NPR radio adaptation.

His birth name was George Fisher. Appropriately, he shares his first name with Star Wars creator George Lucas and his last name with Carrie Fisher, who played Darth Vader's daughter, Princess Leia Organa.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Was friends with Charlton Heston, having worked with him in numerous plays throughout the 1940s and 1950s and films throughout the 1960s and 1970s. They were slated to star in a biracial cast of "Romeo and Juliet" in 1946 that would have had Peters playing "Tybalt" and Heston as "Mercutio" that was abandoned because of a lack of financial backing.

Provided the voice of Jack Johnson on the Miles Davis album "A Tribute to Jack Johnson".

Salary

Carmen Jones (1954)

$1,250