Cleavon Little
Little andJayne Meadows onTemperatures Rising (1972)
Born	Cleavon Jake Little (1939-06-01)June 1, 1939 Chickasha, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	October 22, 1992(1992-10-22) (aged 53) Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
Education	San Diego City College San Diego State University (BA) Juilliard School (GrDip) American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1960–1992
Spouse	Valerie Wiggins ​ ​ (m. 1972; div. 1974)​
Children	1
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 ofPurlie, for which he earned both aTony Award and aDrama Desk Award. His first leading television role was that of the irreverent Dr. Jerry Noland on theABCsitcomTemperatures Rising (1972–1974). While starring in the sitcom, Little appeared in what has become his signature performance, portraying Sheriff Bart in the 1974Mel Brooks comedy filmBlazing Saddles.

In the 1980s, Little continued to appear in stage productions, films, and in guest spots on television series. In 1989, he won aPrimetime Emmy Award for his appearance on theNBC sitcomDear John. He later starred in theFox sitcomTrue Colors (1991–1992).

Little was the brother of singer DeEtta Little West, best known for her performance (with Nelson Pigford) of the vocals on the chart-toppingBill Conti song "Gonna Fly Now," the main theme toRocky.^[1] He had another sister, Rosemarie Little Martin, and two brothers, Everett and Roy.^[2]

Little was raised inSan Diego, California, and attendedKearny High School,^[3] graduating in 1957.^[4][5] He graduated fromSan Diego State College in 1965 with a degree in speech therapy and appeared inA Raisin in the Sun in 1962 at theOld Globe Theatre in San Diego.^[6] He worked his way through college as a janitor and gave Black poetry presentations to clubs and groups. He won a scholarship from theAmerican Broadcasting Company to attend theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and was named the best actor in the class of 1967.^[7]

Little made his professional debut in February 1967, appearingoff-Broadway atthe Village Gate as the Muslim Witch in the original production ofBarbara Garson'sMacBird. This was followed by the role of Foxtrot in the original production ofBruce Jay Friedman's long-running playScuba Duba which premiered in October 1967. While portraying Foxtrot at night, he portrayedHamlet during the days at schools and parks on behalf of theNew York Shakespeare Festival.^[7]

The following year, he made his first film appearance in a small uncredited role inWhat's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), and his first television appearance as a guest star on two episodes ofFelony Squad. A series of small roles followed in films such asJohn and Mary (1969) andCotton Comes to Harlem (1970).

Little made hisBroadway debut in 1969 as Lee Haines inJohn Sebastian andMurray Schisgal'smusicalJimmy Shine withDustin Hoffman in the title role. In 1970, he returned to Broadway to portray the title role inOssie Davis's musicalPurlie, for which he won theTony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.^[8]

A year later, Little was hired as an ensemble player on the syndicated TV variety weeklyTheDavid Frost Revue and he portrayed Shogo inNarrow Road to the Deep North on Broadway. In 1971, Little was chosen to portray the blind radio personality Super Soul in the car-chase movieVanishing Point.^[9] The same year, he played preacher Hawthorne Dooley in the pilot forThe Waltons called "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story," helping John-Boy Walton search for his father; then appeared as a different character in season four, in an episode called "The Fighter," about a prizefighter who desires to build a church and be a preacher. He also played a burglar in a 1971 episode ofAll in the Family titled "Edith Writes a Song."

He then starred on the ABCsitcomTemperatures Rising, which aired in three different iterations from 1972 to 1974, with Little's character of Dr. Jerry Noland as the only common element. In 1974, he starred in the television disaster filmThe Day the Earth Moved, oppositeJackie Cooper andStella Stevens. Little made a minor appearance in theSix Million Dollar Man episode, "Population: Zero", as one of the NASA deliveryman handing Colonel Steve Austin his space suit.

In 1974 he was cast as Sheriff Bart in Brooks's comedy westernBlazing Saddles (1974), after the studio rejectedRichard 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 theBAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles.^[10]

In 1975, Little returned to Broadway to portray the role of Lewis in the original production of Murray Schisgal'sAll Over Town under the direction of Dustin Hoffman. The following year, he appeared as Willy Stepp in the original production ofRonald Ribman'sThe Poison Tree at theAmbassador Theatre.

Over the years, he made guest appearances on:The Mod Squad,All in the Family,The Rookies,Police Story,The Rockford Files,The Love Boat,Fantasy Island,ABC Afterschool Specials,The Fall Guy,MacGyver, and a special Christmas episode ofALF.^[9]

Little played a supporting role to Pryor in the racing movieGreased Lightning (1977), based on the true life story ofWendell Scott, the first blackstock car racing winner in America. Other films includedFM (1978),Scavenger Hunt (1979),The Salamander (1981),High Risk (1981),Jimmy the Kid (1982),Surf II (1984),Toy Soldiers (1984),Once Bitten (1985), The Gig (1985)^[11] andFletch Lives (1989).

Little returned to the New York stage in 1981 in the off-Broadway productionThe Resurrection of Lady Lester, a "poetic mood song" by OyamO, playing the legendary jazz saxophonistLester Young.

In December 1985, Little opened at Broadway's Booth Theatre as Midge inHerb Gardner's playI'm Not Rappaport withJudd Hirsch, who won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. Little had originated the role of Midge in theSeattle Repertory Theatre production.^[7]

In 1989 he appeared as a closeted gay man in Hirsch's sitcomDear John in the episode "Stand by Your Man," for which Little won thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, defeatingRobert Picardo,Jack Gilford,Leslie Nielsen, andSammy Davis Jr.^[12]

Little was slated to star on the television seriesMr. Dugan, where he was to play a blackcongressman, but that series was poorly received by real black congressmen^{[citation needed]} and was cancelled before making it to air. In 1991, he replacedFrankie Faison as Ronald Freeman, ablack dentist married to a white housewife, on the Fox sitcomTrue Colors. The same year, he also had a supporting role on the television seriesBagdad Cafe, appearing in 12 episodes. Later that year, he was cast as a civil-rights lawyer in the docudrama,Separate but Equal, starringSidney Poitier, who portrayed the first blackU.S. Supreme Court Justice,Thurgood Marshall,NAACP lead attorney in the 1954 Supreme Court case thatdesegregated public schools. He also appeared in the television seriesMacGyver as Frank Colton, one half of abounty hunter brother duo.

Little's last appearance as an actor was in a guest role on a 1992 episode of the television seriesTales 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" byAudioslave, through archive footage fromVanishing Point.

Little married Valerie Wiggins in 1972. They divorced in 1974. His daughter isAdia Millett.^[2]

Little died ofcolon cancer at his home in theSherman Oaks area of Los Angeles on October 22, 1992.^[8]

For Little's contribution to motion pictures, he was posthumously honored with a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame on February 1, 1994.^[13] The star is located on the south side of Hollywood Boulevard near El Cerrito Place.^[14]

The Cleavon Little Scholarship, which provides assistance to minority students, was created at theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts through a campaign led by Little's fellow alumnus and co-starJudd Hirsch.^[15]

• Purlie, Broadway play. (1970)
• All Over Town, Broadway play. (1974)
• I'm Not Rappaport, Broadway play. (1985)

• Cleavon Little atIMDb 
• Cleavon Little at theInternet Broadway Database
• Cleavon Little at theInternet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• Cleavon Little at theTCM Movie Database

• 1939 births
• 1992 deaths
• 20th-century African-American male actors
• 20th-century American male actors
• American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
• American male musical theatre actors
• American male film actors
• American male stage actors
• American male television actors
• Deaths from colorectal cancer in California
• 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
• 20th-century American male singers
• 20th-century African-American male singers
• Kearny High School (California) alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from February 2026
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from December 2021
• IBDB name template using Wikidata
• TCMDb name template using non-numeric ID from Wikidata