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Cleavant Derricks
Derricks atGalaxyCon St. Louis in 2025
Born	Cleavant Derricks Jr. (1953-05-15)May 15, 1953 (age 72) Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Occupation(s)	Actor, singer, songwriter
Years active	1978–present
Father	Cleavant Derricks
Relatives	Clinton Derricks-Carroll (twin brother)

Cleavant Derricks Jr. (born May 15, 1953) is an American stage and screen actor,Tony Award winning singer and songwriter, who may be best known for his role of Rembrandt Brown onSliders.

Derricks was born inKnoxville, Tennessee, to pianist mother Cecile G. andBaptist preacher/composerCleavant Derricks Sr., known for his popular gospel music hymn "Just a Little Talk with Jesus".^[1][2] His twin brother is actor and musicianClinton Derricks-Carroll. Derricks began his career as a Nashville gospel songwriter. With his father, he wrote the gospel albumSatisfaction Guaranteed. He was the musical director and composer for the musicalWhen Hell Freezes Over I'll Skate.

Derricks went to New York City to study acting withVinnette Carroll at the Urban Arts Theatre. He received rave reviews for his performance in his Broadway shows, includingBut Never Jam Today and the 1977 revival of Hair. He also won theTony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical andDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, for creating the role of James "Thunder" Early inDreamgirls. Off-Broadway he was in theWilliam Finn musicalRomance in Hard Times in 1989.^[3] He also starred in the Broadway musicalBrooklyn as the Streetsinger.

Soon afterwards, Derricks appeared in films such asMoscow on the Hudson,Neil Simon'sThe Slugger's Wife andWes Craven'sCarnival of Souls. He was a series regular on the short-lived television seriesThea withThea Vidale andBrandy, andGood Sports withFarrah Fawcett andRyan O'Neal. His role as Rembrandt Brown onSliders withJerry O'Connell,Sabrina Lloyd andJohn Rhys-Davies was the onlySliders character to appear throughout the entire series. In addition, Derricks has had numerous guest-starring roles in series such asRoseanne,A Different World,Miami Vice,Spenser: For Hire,Charmed, and many others.

In 2019, Derricks took over the role of the Wizard of Oz in the 2nd U.S. tour ofWicked.^[4] He reprised the role in 2022 on Broadway.^[5] In summer 2024, he’ll star as Joe inWaitress atOgunquit Playhouse.^[6]

• Dreamgirls: Original Broadway Cast Album (1982)
• Beginnings (1999)
• Brooklyn (2004)

• Official website
• Cleavant Derricks at theInternet Broadway Database
• Cleavant Derricks at theInternet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• Cleavant Derricks atIMDb 

• 1953 births
• Living people
• African-American musicians
• American male film actors
• American male musical theatre actors
• American male television actors
• Drama Desk Award winners
• Identical twin male actors
• Male actors from Knoxville, Tennessee
• Tony Award winners
• American twin actors
• 20th-century African-American male singers
• 20th-century American male singers
• 20th-century American singers
• 21st-century African-American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors

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