Adolph Caesar

Born in the Harlem section of New York City, joined the Navy, then studied drama at New York University; was an announcer for then joined the Negro Ensemble Co. in 1970 for such productions as "The River Niger", "Square Root of the Soul" and "The Brownsville Raid"; worked with repertory groups such as the Minnesota Theater Co., Inner City Repertory Co., and the American Shakespeare Co.; first appeared on the screen in CHE (1969), then returned to stage until the late 1970s when he did low-budget films (_The Hitter (1978)_ (qv), _Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980)_ (qv)) before achieving his greatest success in _A Soldier's Story (1984)_ (qv) (from the stage play for which he collected two awards), which earned him an Oscar nomination; appeared in _The Color Purple (1985)_ (qv) and was working on "Tough Guys" with 'Burt Lancaster' (qv) and 'Kirk Douglas' (qv) when he collapsed on the set of a heart attack and died a short time later. He was only 52.::[email protected]