Adolph Caesar

Dynamic African American actor Adolph Caesar studied drama at NYU after a hitch in the navy. He worked as an announcer on ethnically oriented radio stations, then joined the Negro Ensemble Company, the first of many specialized repertory groups to be graced by his talents. In between his stage and TV assignments, Caesar made a good living as a commercial spokesman and cartoon voice-over artist. Though in films since 1969's Che, Caesar did not achieve movie prominence until he repeated his blistering stage performance as a vicious, self-hating Army sergeant in A Soldier's Story (1985), a role which won him an Oscar nomination. Adolph Caesar died of a heart attack suffered on the set of the Kirk Douglas-Burt Lancaster vehicle Tough Guys (1986).

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide