Brock Peters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Brock Peters (July 2, 1927 – August 23, 2005), born George Fisher in New York City, was an American actor probably best known for the role in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird of Tom Robinson, the black man unjustly convicted of raping a white girl.
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 in 1954, but he really began to make a name for himself in such films as To Kill a Mockingbird and The L-Shaped Room. He received a Tony nomination for his starring stint in Broadway's Lost in the Stars.
He died due to pancreatic cancer on August 23, 2005 at the age of 78. He was survived by his daughter Lise Jo Peters.
Other roles include:
- Sergeant Brown in Carmen Jones (1954 film version)
- Crown in Porgy and Bess (1959 film version)
- Stephen Kumalo in Lost in the Stars (stage version and 1974 film version) — nominated for a Tony Award
- Lieutenant Hatcher in the film Soylent Green
- Darth Vader in the Star Wars radio series
- Fleet Admiral Cartwright in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
- Lucius Fox in Batman: The Animated Series
- Joseph Sisko, Benjamin Sisko's father, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
External link
- Brock Peters at the Internet Movie Database
- Brock Peters article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
