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Godfrey Cambridge | |
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 Publicity Photo of Godfrey Cambridge | |
| Born | Godfrey MacArthur Cambridge ( 1933 -02-26)February 26, 1933 New York City, US |
| Died | November 29, 1976(1976-11-29) (aged 43) |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles[1] 34°08′43″N118°19′19″W / 34.14522°N 118.3219°W /34.14522; -118.3219 |
| Education |
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| Occupation(s) | Actor,stand-up comedian |
| Notable work |
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| Spouses |
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| Children | 2[2] |
| Comedy career | |
| Medium | Stage and screen |
| Years active | 1957–1976 |
| Notes | |
Godfrey MacArthur Cambridge (February 26, 1933 – November 29, 1976) was an American stand-up comic and actor. AlongsideBill Cosby,Dick Gregory, andNipsey Russell, he was acclaimed byTime in 1965 as "one of the country's foremost celebrated Negro comedians."[8]
Cambridge was born inNew York City on February 26, 1933, to Alexander and Sarah Cambridge, who were immigrants fromBritish Guiana.[9][10] His parents, dissatisfied with theNew York Public School System, sent him to live with his grandparents inSydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, during hisprimary school years.[9] When he was 13, Cambridge moved back to New York and attendedFlushing High School inFlushing, Queens.[9]
In 1949, Cambridge studied medicine atHofstra College,[2] which he attended for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in acting.[9]
While pursuing an acting career, Cambridge supported himself with a variety of jobs, including "cab driver, bead-sorter, ambulance driver, gardener, judo instructor, and clerk for theNew York City Housing Authority,"[9] as well as cleaning airplanes and making popcorn bunnies.[2]
His first role was as a bartender in theOff-Broadway playTake a Giant Step.[2] In 1961, he received anObie award for distinguished performance for his role inJean Genet'sThe Blacks, in a cast that also includedJames Earl Jones,Louis Gossett,Cicely Tyson,Maya Angelou andRaymond St. Jacques. He made hisBroadway debut in the original production ofHerman Wouk's 1957 playNature's Way.[11] Cambridge received a1962 Tony Award nomination as part of the original cast ofPurlie Victorious, a play written by and starringOssie Davis;[11] he was featured in an opening-night cast that also includedRuby Dee,Alan Alda,Sorrell Booke,Roger C. Carmel,Helen Martin, andBeah Richards.
Godfrey's memorable film roles includeThe Last Angry Man (1959), in which he played a character called "Nobody Home",The President's Analyst (1967), where he plays a depressed government agent, andWatermelon Man (1970), in which he played the lead character, a white bigot who one day wakes up and discovers his skin color has turned black. (On one of his comedy LPs, Cambridge ruefully noted he did not get thelead role inKing of Kings, calling it "a marketing problem".) He also had a starring role in the 1970Ossie Davis adaptation of theChester Himes novelCotton Comes to Harlem, as well as its 1972 sequel,Come Back, Charleston Blue. Cambridge made an appearance in directorSidney Lumet'sBye Bye Braverman (1968) as aYiddish speaking NYC cab driver involved in a car collision with the main protagonists, and another as agayunderworld figure in the 1975 filmFriday Foster. His other film appearances included roles inThe Busy Body (1967),The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968),The Biscuit Eater (1972),Beware! The Blob (1972), andWhiffs (1975).
He hosted, financed, and producedDead is Dead (1973), a drug-awareness film. It gave an uncensored look at the downside of drug abuse, showing actual addicts injecting drugs and going throughwithdrawal.[12]
Cambridge appeared on severalnetwork television programs, includingCar 54 Where Are You? ("The Curse of the Snitkins"),The Dick Van Dyke Show ("The Man From My Uncle"),I Spy ("Court of the Lion"),The Monkees ("It's a Nice Place to Visit"), andPolice Story ("Year of the Dragon"). He also had a small speaking part as a member of Sgt. Bilko's platoon inThe Phil Silvers Show, 1957 episode "Boys Town". Cambridge gave an acclaimed performance alongsideTom Bosley in the episode "Make Me Laugh" ofRod Serling'sNight Gallery, a story about a failed comedian who looks to agenie for a quick fix to success; the episode was directed bySteven Spielberg. He perhaps reached his largest television audience in a series of comical commercials forJockey brand underwear.
He later appeared inJean Genet'sThe Blacks: A Clown Show, giving a performance that earned him anObie Award in 1961.[13] Four years later he did a stock version ofA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
I am only concerned with letting people see the truth of our lives, like, for example, the way Negroes are afraid of each other too. We have got to show the common bonds. I have an act about people staring at a Negro in the Safeway. I want people to realize that they really do stare. We must bring things out into the open. There are some people you can't reach. You neutralize this kind. If two men are laughing at each other, nobody gets stabbed."[8]
— Cambridge in February 1965, on his stand-up act.
In addition to acting, Cambridge had major success as astand-up comedian. By 1965 he was earning "as much as $4,000 a week...in all respects a headliner, working the best places, such as San Francisco'sHungry i and Hollywood'sCrescendo."[8] He appeared onThe Tonight Show and was introduced by his favorite actressJoan Crawford onThe Hollywood Palace.[14] His routines were imbued with biting sarcasm and the trenchant topical humor that was common in comedic circles at the time.[citation needed] He was noted for comic lapses from standard American English to African American English.[citation needed]
Cambridge, along with writerMaya Angelou and actorHugh Hurd, organized one of the first benefits forMartin Luther King Jr. held inNew York City; according to Angelou, it was held atthe Village Gate in the late 1950s and raised $9,000 for King's civil rights movement.[15] (On his 1964 albumReady Or Not, Cambridge joked he was supportingBarry Goldwater, saying that the GOP presidential nominee had "come flat out againstslavery...in principle!")
Cambridge married actressBarbara Ann Teer in 1962; the couple divorced three years later.[9] During the 1970s he remained in semi-retirement, making few public appearances[10] and marrying Audriano Meyers in 1972.[16]
Cambridge died of aheart attack on November 29, 1976, at the age of 43, while on theBurbank, California, set of the ABC television movieVictory at Entebbe, in which he was to portrayIdi Amin (he was replaced byJulius Harris).[2] Amin commented that Cambridge's death was "punishment from God."[17] He is interred atForest Lawn Memorial Park in theHollywood Hills area ofLos Angeles.[18]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | The Last Angry Man | Nobody Home | Uncredited |
| 1961 | Splendor in the Grass | Chauffeur | Uncredited |
| 1963 | Gone Are the Days! | Gitlow Judson | |
| 1964 | The Troublemaker | Fire Inspector | |
| 1966 | "The Man from My Uncle"[19] | Harry Bond | Episode ofThe Dick Van Dyke Show |
| 1967 | The Busy Body | Mike | |
| The President's Analyst | Don Masters | ||
| 1968 | The Biggest Bundle of Them All | Benjamin 'Benny' Brownstead | |
| Bye Bye Braverman | Taxi Driver | ||
| 1970 | Cotton Comes to Harlem | Gravedigger Jones | |
| Watermelon Man | Jeff Gerber | ||
| 1971 | "Make Me Laugh/Clean Kills and Other Trophies" | Jackie Slater | Episode ofNight Gallery |
| 1972 | The Biscuit Eater | Willie Dorsey | |
| Beware! The Blob | Chester Hargis | ||
| Come Back Charleston Blue | Gravedigger Jones | ||
| 1973 | Five on the Black Hand Side | Himself | |
| 1975 | Whiffs | Dusty | |
| Friday Foster | Ford Malotte | ||
| 1977 | Scott Joplin[20] | Tom Turpin | Posthumous |
Mr. Hurd joined with Godfrey Cambridge and Maya Angelou in organizing one of the first benefits in New York for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an occasion memorialized in Ms. Angelou's bookThe Heart of a Woman. The benefit, held at the Village Gate in the late 1950s, raised $9,000 for Dr. King's civil rights movement.
Cambridge was often overweight and it was speculated that his habit of "yo yo dieting" may have been a factor in his early death.
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