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IMDbPro

Geoffrey Holder(1930-2014)

  • Actor
  • Additional Crew
  • Composer
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Carmen De Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder in Carmen and Geoffrey (2005)
Trailer for Carmen and Geoffrey
Play trailer2:21
Carmen and Geoffrey (2005)
8 Videos
17 Photos
Dancer, choreographer and actor Geoffrey Holder was born on August 1, 1930, in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, into a middle-class family. One of four children, he was taught painting and dancing by his older brother Boscoe Holder, whose dance troupe, the Holder Dance Company, the young Geoffrey joined when he was seven years old. Geoffrey assumed direction of the company in the late 1940s after Boscoe moved to London.

Holder moved to the US in 1954, two years after being "discovered" by Agnes de Mille, the choreographer daughter of director-producer Cecil B. DeMille, after she saw the Holder Dance Company perform in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Holder, a talented painter, sold a score of his paintings to raise the funds to bring the Holder Dance Company to New York City in 1954 (in 1957 Holder won a Guggenheim Fellowship to study painting). He would appear with his dance company, now titled Geoffrey Holder and Company, in New York through 1960.

On December 30, 1954, Holder made his Broadway debut (as did Diahann Carroll) at the Alvin Theatre in the Caribbean-themed original musical "House of Flowers", with music by Harold Arlen, who also co-wrote the book with Truman Capote. The cast included Pearl Bailey and Alvin Ailey, and the show was directed by Peter Brook. Herbert Ross did the choreography but the "Banda Dance" was choreographed by Holder. The show ran for 165 total performances but, more importantly, Holder met and married fellow cast member 'Carmen DeLavallade', a dancer, and the two had a son together. From 1955 through 1956 Holder was a principal dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.

Holder played the role of Lucky in a revival of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" directed by Herbert Berghof on Broadway in January 1957. The all-black cast also included Geoff Searle as Vladimir, Rex Ingram as Pozzo and Mantan Moreland as Estragon. The show only lasted six performances, but it established Holder as an actor, and he made his film debut four years later in All Night Long (1962), a modern gloss on William Shakespeare's "Othello". His most famous role was as the heavy "Baron Samedi" in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die (1973), Roger Moore's first turn as 007.

Holder won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his staging of the Broadway musical "The Wiz" (1975), the all-African American retelling of "The Wizard of Oz." He also won the Tony for best costume design (he would be nominated again for a Tony for best costume design for the original 1978 Broadway musical "Timbuktu!", which he also directed and choreographed). As a choreographer he has created dance pieces for many companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Holder has written two books, one on folklore and one on Caribbean cuisine. In the 1970s and 1980s, he put his striking 6'6" presence and bass voice to good use hawking various products in TV commercials, including soft drinks.
BornAugust 1, 1930
DiedOctober 5, 2014(84)
BornAugust 1, 1930
DiedOctober 5, 2014(84)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank

Photos17

Samantha Eggar, William Dix, Geoffrey Holder, and Anthony Newley in Doctor Dolittle (1967)
Jane Seymour and Geoffrey Holder in Live and Let Die (1973)
Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour, Earl Jolly Brown, Julius Harris, and Geoffrey Holder in Live and Let Die (1973)
Geoffrey Holder in Live and Let Die (1973)
Carmen De Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder in Carmen and Geoffrey (2005)
Carmen De Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder in Carmen and Geoffrey (2005)
Carmen De Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder in Carmen and Geoffrey (2005)
Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Holder and Aileen Quinn in Annie (1982)
Albert Finney, Geoffrey Holder, Aileen Quinn, and Ann Reinking in Annie (1982)
Albert Finney, John Huston, Geoffrey Holder, Aileen Quinn, and Ann Reinking in Annie (1982)
Albert Finney, Geoffrey Holder, Aileen Quinn, and Ann Reinking in Annie (1982)

Known for

Aileen Quinn in Annie (1982)
Annie
6.6
  • Punjab
  • 1982
Live and Let Die (1973)
Live and Let Die
6.7
  • Baron Samedi
  • 1973
Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, AnnaSophia Robb, Julia Winter, Jordan Fry, and Philip Wiegratz in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
6.7
  • Narrator(voice)
  • 2005
Eddie Murphy in Boomerang (1992)
Boomerang
5.6
  • Nelson
  • 1992

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Butterfield (2008)
    Butterfield
  • The Little Wizard: Guardian of the Magic Crystals (2008)
    The Little Wizard: Guardian of the Magic Crystals
  • Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, AnnaSophia Robb, Julia Winter, Jordan Fry, and Philip Wiegratz in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
    • (voice)
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
    • (voice)
  • Christopher Lloyd, Jasmine Guy, Linda Ballantyne, Sugar Lyn Beard, Len Carlson, Novie Edwards, Gilbert Gottfried, Julie Lemieux, Kristina Nicoll, Annick Obonsawin, Al Roker, Rob Tinkler, Erin Fritch, Matthew A. Wilson, Jacqueline Pillon, Bianca DeGroat, Tim Hamaguchi, Michael Buckley, Jaden Michael, and Kelly McCreary in Cyberchase (2002)
    Cyberchase
    • (voice)
  • Tyler Bunch, Vicki Eibner, Peter Linz, and Noel MacNeal in Bear in the Big Blue House (1997)
    Bear in the Big Blue House
    • (voice)
  • Tyler Bunch, Vicki Eibner, Peter Linz, and Noel MacNeal in Bear in the Big Blue House LIVE! - Surprise Party (2002)
    Bear in the Big Blue House LIVE! - Surprise Party
    • (voice)
  • Jennifer Tilly in Goosed (1999)
    Goosed
  • Hasards ou coïncidences (1998)
    Hasards ou coïncidences
  • Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller (1994)
    Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller
  • Eddie Murphy in Boomerang (1992)
    Boomerang
  • Where Confucius Meets the New Wave (1988)
    Where Confucius Meets the New Wave
  • Ghost of a Chance (1987)
    Ghost of a Chance
  • John Grin's Christmas (1986)
    John Grin's Christmas
  • Great Performances (1971)
    Great Performances

Additional Crew

  • Lisa Bonet, Bill Cosby, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Phylicia Rashad, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner in The Cosby Show (1984)
    The Cosby Show
  • The Wiz
  • Swashbuckler (1976)
    Swashbuckler
  • Evening at Pops (1970)
    Evening at Pops
  • Live and Let Die (1973)
    Live and Let Die
  • A Time to Dance

Composer

  • Geoffrey Holder: The Unknown Side...

Videos8

Boomerang
Trailer 2:55
Boomerang
Carmen and Geoffrey
Trailer 2:21
Carmen and Geoffrey
Doctor Dolittle
Trailer 1:38
Doctor Dolittle
Bear in the Big Blue House
Trailer 0:58
Bear in the Big Blue House
Tropical Rainforest
Trailer 2:40
Tropical Rainforest
Bear in the Big Blue House Collection
Trailer 0:34
Bear in the Big Blue House Collection
Bear In The Big Blue House
Trailer 2:13
Bear In The Big Blue House
s
Trailer 2:11
s

Personal details

Edit
    • August 1, 1930
    • Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies [now Trinidad and Tobago]
    • October 5, 2014
    • New York City, New York, USA(complications from pneumonia)
    • Carmen De LavalladeJune 26, 1955 - October 5, 2014 (his death, 1 child)
    • Leo Holder
    • Boscoe Holder(Sibling)
  • Other works
    TV commercial: Armory Auto Group
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Pictorial

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    He was the bald "Un-cola Man" with the deep voice and memorable "Ha Ha Ha Ha" laugh in the 7-Up soda television commercials in the 1970s and 1980s.
  • Quotes
    I paint a slice of life, whatever it is that day.
    • Bald head & a deep laugh

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