Actor. He gained fame in the miniseries "Roots" and his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman" in 1982. He won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series for Roots and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in An Officer and A Gentleman. Born in Coney Island, he played basketball for Abraham Lincoln High School. He was awarded a scholarship from New York University which he turned down to pursue his acting career. He starred in Broadway plays: "Take A Giant Step" (1953), "The Desk Set" (1955), "A Raisin in the Sun" (1959), "Tambourines to Glory" (1963), "My Sweet Charlie" (1966) and "Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights" (1968). In 1961, he made his film debut, reprising his role in "A Raisin in the Sun." He had subsequent film roles in "Travels with My Aunt" (1972), "The Laughing Policeman" (1973), and "The White Dawn" (1974). In 1975, he played the role of O'Flaherty in the Clark Templeton O'Flaherty episode of "The Six Million Dollar Man." His breakthrough came in 1977 when he portrayed Fiddler in the miniseries "Roots." In the same year, he acted in The Choirboys. He won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the series "Palmerstown, U.S.A." He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982). He also won and was nominated for many other awards, including: the Golden Globe Awards, Black Reel Awards, and NAACP Image Awards. For his contributions to film, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. He was well-known as Colonel Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair in the "Iron Eagle" film series from 1985 to 1995. Other film appearances include: "The Landlord" (1970), "Skin Game" (1971), "The Deep" (1977), "Enemy Mine" (1985), "Firewalker" (1986), "The Principal" (1987), "The Punisher" (1989), "Toy Soldiers" (1991), "Diggstown" (1992), "Blue Chips" (1994), "The Perfect Game" (2009), "The Color Purple" (2023) and "IF" (2024). His television appearances included: "Bonanza" (1971), "The Jeffersons" (1975), "American Playhouse" (1990), "Touched by an Angel" (1997), "Stargate SG-1" (2005), "Boardwalk Empire" (2013), "The Book of Negroes" (2015) and "Watchmen" (2019). He was diagnosed with a debilitating illness in the 1990s and early 2000s and learned in 2001 that most of his illness was due to toxic mold in his Malibu home. In 2010, he learned he had prostate cancer, but the disease was caught in the early stages and a full recovery was expected. He passed away in a rehabilitation facility in Santa Monica, California, but no cause of death was announced.