Geoffrey Holder
Holder at theBig Apple Con 2008
Born	Geoffrey Lamont Holder (1930-08-01)August 1, 1930 Port of Spain,Trinidad and Tobago
Died	October 5, 2014(2014-10-05) (aged 84) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Queen's Royal College
Occupations	Actor voice actor singer dancer composer choreographer director
Years active	1954–2014
Spouse	Carmen de Lavallade ​ (m. 1955)​
Children	1
Family	Boscoe Holder (brother) Christian Holder (nephew) Ralph McDaniels (second cousin)[1]
Awards	Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical 1975The Wiz Tony Award for Best Costume Design 1975The Wiz Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design 1975The Wiz

Geoffrey Lamont Holder (August 1, 1930 – October 5, 2014) was aTrinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, director, choreographer, and artist.^[2][3] He was a principal dancer for theMetropolitan Opera Ballet, before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance inCarib Gold. For his theatre work, he won twoTony Awards,Best Direction of a Musical andBest Costume Design in a Musical for the original Broadway production ofThe Wiz.

In 1973, he played the villainousBaron Samedi in theJames Bond filmLive and Let Die. He also appeared in such films asDoctor Dolittle (1967),Annie (1982),Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and was the voice of Ray the Sun on the children's television seriesBear in the Big Blue House (1998–2002). He also carried out advertising work as thepitchman for7 Up.^[4]

Born inPort of Spain,Trinidad, on August 1, 1930,^[5] Holder was one of four children ofBarbadian and Trinidadian descent born to Louise de Frense and Arthur Holder.^[6] He was educated at Tranquility School andQueen's Royal College in Port of Spain. He made his performance debut at the age of seven in his brotherBoscoe Holder's dance company.

After seeing Holder perform inSt. Thomas,Virgin Islands the choreographerAgnes de Mille invited him to work with her in New York.^[7] Upon arriving, he joinedKatherine Dunham's dance school, where he taught folkloric forms for two years.^[8]

From 1955 to 1956, he performed with theMetropolitan Opera Ballet as a principal dancer.^[9][4] Previously, he made his Broadway debut in the 1954Harold Arlen andTruman Capote musicalHouse of Flowers. While working onHouse of Flowers, Holder metAlvin Ailey, with whom he later worked extensively, andCarmen de Lavallade, his future wife. After the show closed he starred in an all-black production ofWaiting for Godot in 1957.^[4]

Holder began his movie career in the 1962 British filmAll Night Long, a modern remake ofShakespeare'sOthello. He followed that withDoctor Dolittle (1967) as Willie Shakespeare, leader of the natives of Sea-Star Island. In 1972, he was cast as the Sorcerer inEverything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask). The following year he was a henchman—Baron Samedi—in theBond movieLive and Let Die.^[5] Holder contributed to the film's choreography. In the film, his character was meant to fall into a coffin of live snakes, about which Holder had a phobia. He considered refusing to do the stunt but agreed to do it when it was revealed thatPrincess Alexandra would be visiting the set.^[10]

In addition to his movie appearances, Holder was a spokesman inadvertising campaigns for thesoft drink7 Up in the 1970s and 1980s, declaring it the "uncola", and, in the 1980s, calling it "crisp and clean, and no caffeine; never had it, never will".^[11][12]

In 1975, Holder won twoTony Awards for direction and costume design ofThe Wiz, the all-black musical version ofThe Wizard of Oz. Holder was the first black man to be nominated in either category. He won theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design. The show ran for 1672 performances.^[13]

As a choreographer, Holder created dance pieces for many companies, including theAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater, for which he provided choreography, music, and costumes forProdigal Prince (1967),^[14] and theDance Theatre of Harlem, for which he provided choreography, music, and costumes forDougla (1974), and designed costumes forFirebird (1982). In 1978, Holder directed and choreographed the Broadway musicalTimbuktu!^[15][16][17] Holder's 1957 piece "Bele" is also part of the Dance Theater of Harlem repertory.

Holder portrayed Jupiter, the hulking manservant of an ill-fated treasure-hunter (Roberts Blossom), in a 1980 made-for-television adaptation ofEdgar Allan Poe'sThe Gold-Bug which also starredAnthony Michael Hall. InJohn Huston's 1982 film adaptation of the hit stage musicalAnnie, Holder played the role of Punjab,Albert Finney's bodyguard. Holder portrayed theGhost of Christmas Future inJohn Grin's Christmas, a 1986 variation onCharles Dickens'sA Christmas Carol directed by its star,Robert Guillaume. Holder portrayed Nelson in the 1992 filmBoomerang withEddie Murphy. He was also the voice of Ray inBear in the Big Blue House and provided narration forTim Burton's2005 film version ofRoald Dahl'sCharlie and the Chocolate Factory. He reprised his role as the 7 Up spokesman in the 2011 season finale ofThe Celebrity Apprentice, where he appeared as himself in a commercial for "7 Up Retro" forMarlee Matlin's team.

In 1990, Holder performed at the62nd Academy Awards, singing "Kiss the Girl" and "Under the Sea" fromThe Little Mermaid.

In 1993, Holder did a series of commercials for the Armory Auto Groupauto dealership inAlbany, New York.

Holder was a prolific painter (patrons of his art includedLena Horne andWilliam F. Buckley, Jr.),^[18] ardent art collector, book author, and music composer. As a painter, he won aGuggenheim Fellowship in fine arts in 1956.^[19] A book of his photography,Adam, was published byViking Press in 1986.^[20]

In 2024, theVictoria Miro Gallery in London showed the joint exhibitionBoscoe Holder | Geoffrey Holder, in which, according toThe Guardian's reviewer, "radiant, sensual paintings of black men and women reflect just how far ahead of their time the Holder brothers were",^[21][22] and which was described by Nicole-Rachelle Moore as "full of magic that is both familiar and incredible".^[23] A new text by Attillah Springer entitledVetiver and Turpentine accompanied the show.^[24]

Holder marriedCarmen de Lavallade (1931–2025) in 1955. They spent their lives in New York City and had one son, Léo. They were the subject of a 2005 documentary,Carmen & Geoffrey. His elder brotherBoscoe Holder was a dancer, choreographer, and artist,^[6] whose sonChristian Holder also won acclaim as a dancer, choreographer, and entertainer.^[25]

Geoffrey Holder died inNew York City of complications frompneumonia on October 5, 2014, aged 84.^[6]

• House of Flowers, Original Musical, 1954 – Banda dance choreography, performer
• Josephine Baker, musical review, 1954 – Performer
• Waiting for Godot, revival (allblack cast), 1957 – Performer
• The Wiz, original musical, 1975 – Direction, costume design (Tony Award for Best Costume Design and Best Direction of a Musical, 1975)
• Timbuktu!,original musical, 1978  – Direction, choreography, costume design, playbill cover illustration
• The Wiz,revival, 1984 – Direction, costume design
• TheBoys' Choir of Harlem and Friends, staged concert, 1993 – Staging

• KYOT-FM inPhoenix, Arizona, 1994–2011 – Voiceover

• Holder, Geoffrey; Harshman Tom (1969).Black Gods, Green Islands. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.ISBN 0-8371-2789-0.
• Holder, Geoffrey (1973).Geoffrey Holder's Caribbean Cookbook. New York: Viking Press.ISBN 978-0-670-33662-3.OCLC 2700931.
• Holder, Geoffrey (1986).Adam. New York: Viking.ISBN 0-670-81028-2.
• Holder, Geoffrey; University Art Museum. (1995).Geoffrey Holder: the painter. Albany, New York: State University of New York at Albany.ISBN 0-910763-13-5.
• Holder, Geoffrey; Falke, Stefan; Lovelace, Earl (2004).The Dancing spirits of Trinidad: Moko Jumbies. New York: Pointed Leaf Press.ISBN 0-9727661-3-8.

• Geoffrey Holder atIMDb
• Geoffrey Holder at theInternet Broadway Database
• Leo Holder,"'This Impromptu Dance': Geoffrey Holder's Son Tells One More Story", NPR, October 29, 2014.
• Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University:Geoffrey Holder and Carmen De Lavallade papers, circa 1900–2018

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