Cleavon Little - wikipedia Cleavon Little This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( December 2013 ) Cleavon Little Cleavon Little and Jayne Meadows on Temperatures Rising ( 1972 ) Cleavon Jake Little ( 1939 - 06 - 01 ) June 1, 1939 Chickasha, Oklahoma, U.S. October 22, 1992 ( 1992 - 10 - 22 ) ( aged 53 ) Sherman Oaks, California, U.S. Cause of death Colorectal cancer Alma mater San Diego City College San Diego State University Juilliard School American Academy of Dramatic Arts Stephen Watts Kearny High School Occupation Actor Years active 1960 -- 1992 Spouse ( s ) Valerie Wiggins ( m. 1972 ; div. 1974 ) Awards Drama Desk Award ( Purlie, 1970 ) Tony Award ( Purlie, 1970 ) Primetime Emmy Award ( Dear John, 1989 ) Cleavon Jake Little ( June 1, 1939 -- October 22, 1992 ) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He began his career in the late 1960s on the stage. In 1970, he starred in the Broadway production of Purlie, for which he earned both a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award. His first leading television role was that of the irreverent Dr. Jerry Noland on the ABC sitcom Temperatures Rising ( 1972 -- 1974 ). Shortly before the program 's conclusion, Little gave what has become his signature performance, portraying Sheriff Bart in the Mel Brooks comedy film Blazing Saddles ( 1974 ). In the 1980s, Little continued to appear in stage productions, films, and in guest spots on television series. In 1989, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his appearance on the NBC sitcom Dear John. He later starred on the Fox sitcom True Colors ( 1991 -- 1992 ). Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Later career 4 Death 5 Legacy 6 Partial filmography 7 References 8 External links Early life Little was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma. He was the brother of singer DeEtta Little, best known for her performance of `` Gonna Fly Now '', the main theme to Rocky. He was raised in California, graduating in 1957 from Kearny High School and attended San Diego City College, and then San Diego State University, where he earned a bachelor 's degree in dramatic arts. After receiving a full scholarship to graduate school at Juilliard, he moved to New York. After completing studies at Juilliard, Little trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Career This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( January 2014 ) Melba Moore and Cleavon Little in the Broadway musical Purlie ( 1970 ) 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 ? ( 1968 ), and his first television appearance as a guest star on two episodes of Felony Squad. A series of small roles followed in films such as 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 1970, he returned to Broadway to portray the title role in Ossie Davis 's musical Purlie, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding 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. The same year, he played Hawthorne Dooley in the pilot for The Waltons called `` The Homecoming : A Christmas Story '', helping John - Boy Walton search for his father ; then again in season four, in an episode called `` The Fighter '', about a prizefighter who desired to build a church and be a preacher. He also played a burglar in a 1971 episode of All in the Family titled `` Edith Writes a Song ''. He then starred on 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. In 1974, he starred in the television disaster film The Day the Earth Moved, opposite Jackie Cooper and Stella Stevens. He was also cast as Sheriff Bart in the comedy film Blazing Saddles ( 1974 ), after the studio rejected Richard Pryor, who co-wrote the script. Studio executives were apparently concerned about Pryor 's reliability, given his reputation for drug use and unpredictable behavior, and thought Little would be a safer choice. This role earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. 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. He played a supporting role to Richard Pryor in the racing movie Greased Lightning ( 1977 ), based on the true life story of Wendell Scott, the first black stock car racing winner in America. Later career In the years after Blazing Saddles, Little appeared in many less successful films, such as FM ( 1978 ), Scavenger Hunt ( 1979 ), The Salamander ( 1981 ), High Risk ( 1981 ), Jimmy the Kid ( 1982 ), Surf II ( 1984 ) and Toy Soldiers ( 1984 ). He also made guest appearances on The Mod Squad, The Rookies, Police Story, The Rockford Files, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, ABC Afterschool Specials, The Fall Guy, MacGyver, The Waltons, and a special Christmas episode of ALF. He co-starred opposite Lauren Hutton and Jim Carrey in the horror comedy Once Bitten ( 1985 ). He returned to the New York stage in 1981 in the Off - Broadway production The Resurrection of Lady Lester, a `` poetic mood song '' by OyamO, playing the legendary jazz saxophonist Lester Young. In 1985, Little returned to Broadway to appear as Midge in Herb Gardner 's Tony Award - winning play I 'm Not Rappaport, reuniting with Dear John star Judd Hirsch in New York and later on tour. The Broadway cast also featured Jace Alexander and Mercedes Ruehl. In 1989, he had a role in Fletch Lives, the sequel to Fletch ( 1985 ). The same year he appeared in the Dear John episode `` Stand by Your Man '', for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, defeating Robert Picardo, Jack Gilford, Leslie Nielsen and Sammy Davis, Jr. Little was slated to star on the television 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. In 1991, he replaced Frankie Faison as Ronald Freeman, a black dentist married to a white housewife, on the Fox sitcom True Colors. The same year, he also had a supporting role on the television series Bagdad Cafe, appearing in 12 episodes. Later that year, he was cast as a civil - rights lawyer in the docudrama, 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 appeared in the television series MacGyver as Frank Colton, half of a bounty hunter brother duo. Little 's last appearance as an actor was in a guest role on a 1992 episode of the television series Tales from the Crypt entitled `` This 'll Kill Ya ''. Eleven years after his death, he appeared in the music video for `` Show Me How to Live '' by Audioslave, through archive footage from Vanishing Point. Death Often afflicted by ulcers and general stomach problems throughout his life, Little died of colorectal cancer on October 22, 1992. His body was cremated and the ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. Legacy For Little 's contribution to motion pictures, he was honored with a star February 1, 1994, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located on the south side of Hollywood Blvd., near El Cerrito Place. Partial filmography What 's So Bad About Feeling Good ? ( 1968 ) -- Phil ( uncredited ) John and Mary ( 1969 ) -- The Film Director Cotton Comes to Harlem ( 1970 ) -- Lo Boy Vanishing Point ( 1971 ) -- Super Soul Blazing Saddles ( 1974 ) -- Bart Greased Lightning ( 1977 ) -- Peewee FM ( 1978 ) -- Prince Scavenger Hunt ( 1979 ) -- Jackson The Salamander ( 1981 ) -- Major Carl Malinowski, USMC High Risk ( 1981 ) -- Rockney Jimmy the Kid ( 1982 ) -- Herb Double Exposure ( 1983 ) -- Police Chief Surf II ( 1984 ) -- Daddy O Toy Soldiers ( 1984 ) -- Buck E. Nick : A Legend in His Own Mind ( 1984 ) -- Edmundo Once Bitten ( 1985 ) -- Sebastian The Gig ( 1985 ) -- Marshall Wilson Fletch Lives ( 1989 ) -- Calculus Entropy Murder by Numbers ( 1990 ) -- David Shelby Goin ' to Chicago ( 1991 ) -- Edward Sr. References Jump up ^ `` 1957 Kearny High School Yearbook Online, San Diego CA ''. Classmates.com. Retrieved 14 July 2014. Jump up ^ `` Biography : Cleavon Little ''. Allmovie. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 07. Jump up ^ The 50th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards ( 1989 ) at the IMDb. Retrieved 2008 - 06 - 07. Jump up ^ `` Cleavon Little, Award - Winning Actor, Dies at 53 ''. New York Times. October 23, 1992. 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. Jump up ^ `` Cleavon Little Hollywood Walk of Fame ''. www.walkoffame.com. Retrieved 2015 - 11 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Cleavon Little - Hollywood, CA - Citizen Memorials on Waymarking.com ''. www.waymarking.com. Retrieved 2015 - 11 - 11. External links Biography portal Cleavon Little on IMDb Cleavon Little at the Internet Broadway Database Cleavon Little at the Internet Off - Broadway Database Cleavon Little at the TCM Movie Database Cleavon Little at AllMovie Cleavon Little at Find a Grave Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Roscoe Lee Browne ( 1986 ) John Cleese ( 1987 ) Cleavon Little ( 1989 ) Jay Thomas ( 1990 ) Jay Thomas ( 1991 ) No award ( 1992 ) David Clennon ( 1993 ) Martin Sheen ( 1994 ) Carl Reiner ( 1995 ) Tim Conway ( 1996 ) Mel Brooks ( 1997 ) Mel Brooks ( 1998 ) Mel Brooks ( 1999 ) Bruce Willis ( 2000 ) Derek Jacobi ( 2001 ) Anthony LaPaglia ( 2002 ) Gene Wilder ( 2003 ) John Turturro ( 2004 ) Bobby Cannavale ( 2005 ) Leslie Jordan ( 2006 ) Stanley Tucci ( 2007 ) Tim Conway ( 2008 ) Justin Timberlake ( 2009 ) Neil Patrick Harris ( 2010 ) Justin Timberlake ( 2011 ) Jimmy Fallon ( 2012 ) Bob Newhart ( 2013 ) Jimmy Fallon ( 2014 ) Bradley Whitford ( 2015 ) Peter Scolari ( 2016 ) Dave Chappelle ( 2017 ) Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical 1948 -- 1975 Paul Hartman ( 1948 ) Ray Bolger ( 1949 ) Ezio Pinza ( 1950 ) Robert Alda ( 1951 ) Phil Silvers ( 1952 ) Thomas Mitchell ( 1953 ) Alfred Drake ( 1954 ) Walter Slezak ( 1955 ) Ray Walston ( 1956 ) Rex Harrison ( 1957 ) Robert Preston ( 1958 ) Richard Kiley ( 1959 ) Jackie Gleason ( 1960 ) Richard Burton ( 1961 ) Robert Morse ( 1962 ) Zero Mostel ( 1963 ) Bert Lahr ( 1964 ) Zero Mostel ( 1965 ) Richard Kiley ( 1966 ) Robert Preston ( 1967 ) Robert Goulet ( 1968 ) Jerry Orbach ( 1969 ) Cleavon Little ( 1970 ) Hal Linden ( 1971 ) Phil Silvers ( 1972 ) Ben Vereen ( 1973 ) Christopher Plummer ( 1974 ) John Cullum ( 1975 ) 1976 -- 2000 George Rose ( 1976 ) Barry Bostwick ( 1977 ) John Cullum ( 1978 ) Len Cariou ( 1979 ) Jim Dale ( 1980 ) Kevin Kline ( 1981 ) Ben Harney ( 1982 ) Tommy Tune ( 1983 ) George Hearn ( 1984 ) No award ( 1985 ) George Rose ( 1986 ) Robert Lindsay ( 1987 ) Michael Crawford ( 1988 ) Jason Alexander ( 1989 ) James Naughton ( 1990 ) Jonathan Pryce ( 1991 ) Gregory Hines ( 1992 ) Brent Carver ( 1993 ) Boyd Gaines ( 1994 ) Matthew Broderick ( 1995 ) Nathan Lane ( 1996 ) James Naughton ( 1997 ) Alan Cumming ( 1998 ) Martin Short ( 1999 ) Brian Stokes Mitchell ( 2000 ) 2001 -- present Nathan Lane ( 2001 ) John Lithgow ( 2002 ) Harvey Fierstein ( 2003 ) Hugh Jackman ( 2004 ) Norbert Leo Butz ( 2005 ) John Lloyd Young ( 2006 ) David Hyde Pierce ( 2007 ) Paulo Szot ( 2008 ) David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish ( 2009 ) Douglas Hodge ( 2010 ) Norbert Leo Butz ( 2011 ) Steve Kazee ( 2012 ) Billy Porter ( 2013 ) Neil Patrick Harris ( 2014 ) Michael Cerveris ( 2015 ) Leslie Odom Jr. ( 2016 ) Ben Platt ( 2017 ) VIAF : 17423072 LCCN : n94092882 ISNI : 0000 0001 0875 4315 GND : 136022081 BNF : cb140385448 ( data ) MusicBrainz : 102c3b46 - 4719 - 4ed8 - bde5 - aa63dbd928f7 IATH : w6089vt3 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cleavon_Little&oldid=807054629 '' Categories : 1939 births 1992 deaths 20th - century American male actors American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni African - American male actors American male musical theatre actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from colorectal cancer Drama Desk Award winners Juilliard School alumni Male actors from Oklahoma Male actors from San Diego People from Chickasha, Oklahoma Primetime Emmy Award winners Tony Award winners San Diego State University alumni 20th - century American singers Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from December 2013 All articles needing additional references Articles with hCards Articles needing additional references from January 2014 Articles with IBDb links Turner Classic Movies person ID not in Wikidata Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Asturianu Deutsch Español فارسی Français Italiano Nederlands Polski Português Русский Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska Tagalog Edit links This page was last edited on 25 October 2017, at 16 : 19. 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Question: who was the black actor in blazing saddles
Answer: Cleavon Jake Little