Geoffrey Holder
Introduction
Geoffrey Lamont Holder (August 1, 1930 – October 5, 2014) was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, director, choreographer, and artist. He was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance in Carib Gold. For his theatre work, he won two Tony Awards, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Costume Design in a Musical for the original Broadway production of The Wiz.
In 1973, he played the villainous Baron Samedi in the James Bond film Live and Let Die. He also appeared in such films as Doctor Dolittle (1967), Annie (1982), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and was the voice of Ray the Sun on the children's television series Bear in the Big Blue House (1998–2002). He also carried out advertising work as the pitchman for 7 Up.
Holder was a member of the executive committee of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group.
Wikidata identifier
Q945691
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed January 2, 2026.
Introduction
Born in Trinidad Tobago, Holder moved to New York in the 1950s. He was a dancer, choreographer, actor, composer, designer and painter who often used his homeland the West Indies to inform his work. He received a Guggenheim fellowship for painting in 1957.
Country of birth
Trinidad and Tobago
Roles
Artist, actor, author, choreographer, composer, costume designer, designer, painter, photographer
ULAN identifier
500356438
Names
Geoffrey Holder, Geoffrey Lamont Holder
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed January 2, 2026.
