|
Post by musicradio77 on Oct 4, 2005 17:42:05 GMT -5
Nipsey Russell, who danced down the yellow brick road with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson in the cult movie favorite "The Wiz," has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 80.
The end came Sunday afternoon in Lenox Hill Hospital, his longtime manager Joseph Rapp said.
Russell, whose nearly 40-year career included stage, screen and television performances, got his start in the 1950s, appearing in rock 'n' roll and other music revues with such stars as Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton.
The actor-singer became more widely known as Officer Anderson in the 1961 television series, "Car 54, Where Are You?" and the 1994 film version - his last movie.
After a year on the "Car 54" series, Russell became a mainstay on variety shows, appearing on "Laugh-In," "The Dean Martin Show" and "The Jackie Gleason Show."
He also appeared on other shows including Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show," "What's My Line?" and "Hollywood Squares," where he was welcomed for his poetic delivery that earned him the moniker, "Poet Laureate of Television."
Russell also appeared in the films "Nemo" in 1984, "Wildcats" in 1986 and "Posse" in 1993.
He settled in New York after graduating from the University of Cincinnati and serving as a captain in Europe during World War II, Rapp said.
Russell never married.
"He always said, 'I have trouble living with myself; how could I live with anyone else?'" Rapp said. "But he was a wonderful guy, very quiet, never bragged."
|
|