Adolph Caesar
Caesar in 1979
Born	(1933-12-05)December 5, 1933 Harlem, New York City, U.S.
Died	March 6, 1986(1986-03-06) (aged 52) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	New York University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1969–1986
Known for	Playing Sgt. Waters inA Soldier's Play and its film adaptationA Soldier's Story
Spouse	Diane ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	3

Adolph Caesar (December 5, 1933 – March 6, 1986) was an American film and theater actor. Known for his signature deep voice,^[1] Caesar was a staple ofoff-Broadway as a member of theNegro Ensemble Company, and as a voiceover artist for numerousfilm trailers. He earned widespread acclaim for his performance as Sgt. Vernon Waters inCharles Fuller'sPulitzer Prize-winningA Soldier's Play, a role he reprised in the 1984 film adaptationA Soldier's Story, for which he receivedAcademy Award andGolden Globe Award nominations, and won anNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.

Caesar was born inHarlem, New York City in 1933 as the youngest of three sons born to aDominican mother and a black indigenous father.^[2] At age 12, he contractedlaryngitis which led to his notably deep voice.

After graduating fromGeorge Washington High School in 1952, Caesar enlisted in theUnited States Navy during theKorean War era,^[3] serving as ahospital corpsman for five years,^[4] achieving the rank ofchief petty officer.^[5] Upon his discharge from the service, he decided to break into the theater and went on to study drama atNew York University, graduating in 1962.^[3]

Caesar made his film debut in 1969 inChe!, playing Cuban revolutionaryJuan Almeida Bosque. A year later, Caesar became an announcer for and then joined theNegro Ensemble Company in 1970 for productions such asThe River Niger,Square Root of the Soul, andThe Brownsville Raid. Caesar also later worked with the Minnesota Theater Company, Inner City Repertory Company, and theAmerican Shakespeare Theatre. He had a stint on the soap operasGuiding Light andGeneral Hospital in 1964 and 1969, respectively.

Thanks to his voice, Caesar found frequent work as a voice-over artist for television and radio commercials, including theatrical previews and radio commercials for manyblaxploitation films such asCleopatra Jones,Superfly,Truck Turner andThe Spook Who Sat by the Door. For many years, he was the voice of theUnited Negro College Fund's publicity campaign, reciting the iconic slogan "...because a mind is a terrible thing to waste."

Later in his career, Caesar also lent his voice to the animated seriesSilverhawks, in which he voiced Hotwing, a magician and skilled illusionist.^{[citation needed]}

In 1980, Caesar appeared in the infamousBruceploitation mockumentaryFist of Fear, Touch of Death, playing himself as a fictional television news reporter investigating the death ofBruce Lee.

Caesar’s most iconic work started with his role as US Army Sergeant Vernon C. Waters inCharles Fuller'sPulitzer Prize-winning stage drama,A Soldier's Play, for which Caesar wonDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play and anObie Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Achievement.A Soldier’s Play is set inLouisiana duringWorld War II. Sgt. Waters is an ambitious Blackdrill sergeant who strives for recognition for African-American soldiers while detesting "Geechees", as he termsuneducated, subservient, and unintelligent southern Blacks, as an obstacle toracial equality and the success of the futureAfrican American upper class, and who need to be removed at all costs. The play and film are amurder mystery that unfolds in flashbacks, as a Black JAG Captain investigates Sgt. Waters' murder at the beginning of the play and which the Captain eventually reveals to have been afragging by one of Waters' own men.

In a 1985 interview with theLos Angeles Times, Caesar stated, while crafting the character of Waters, he drew on his experiences withracism inClassical theatre, "I’d studiedShakespeare to death. I knew more about Shakespeare than Shakespeare knew about himself. After I did one season at a Shakespearean repertory company, a director said to me, ‘You have a marvelous voice. You know the king’s English well. You speakiambic pentameter. My suggestion is that you go to New York and get a good colored role.' Waters has tried his best, but no matter what you do, they still hate you." Caesar subsequently coined the character's signature phrase, "They still hate you".^[1]

Caesar subsequently reprised his role as Waters inNorman Jewison's 1984 film adaptation of Fuller's play, retitledA Soldier's Story. His performance was acclaimed and earned him numerous accolades, includingAcademy Award andGolden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and anNAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture. He also won theLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor.

On the basis of hisSoldier's Story success, Caesar was cast inSteven Spielberg'sThe Color Purple as Old Mister Johnson, the father ofDanny Glover's character. He also appeared on an episode ofThe Twilight Zone and anABC Afterschool Special. Caesar's last completed film wasClub Paradise, released posthumously.

Caesar had three children with his wife Diane, whom he was married to until his death.

Caesar was working on theLos Angeles set of the 1986 filmTough Guys (withBurt Lancaster andKirk Douglas) when he suffered aheart attack and died a short time later.^[4] His role was recast withEli Wallach. He was interred at theFerncliff Cemetery inHartsdale, New York.

• "Adolph Caesar Biography".filmreference. 2008. RetrievedSeptember 1, 2008.

• Adolph Caesar at theInternet Broadway Database
• Adolph Caesar atIMDb
• Adolph Caesar's Entry at the Lortel Archives
• Adolph Caesar's Entry at the Grindhouse Database
• Los Angeles Times

• 1933 births
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