Raymond St. Jacques
Raymond St. Jacques | |
---|---|
Born | James Arthur Johnson March 1, 1930 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
Died | August 27, 1990 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 60)
Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Los Angeles, California) |
Education | Hillhouse High School |
Alma mater | Yale University |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1959–1991 |
Known for | Simon Blake – Rawhide Coffin Ed Johnson – Cotton Comes to Harlem, Come Back, Charleston Blue |
Raymond St. Jacques (born James Arthur Johnson; March 1, 1930 – August 27, 1990) was an American actor, director and producer whos career spanned over 30 years on stage, film and television. St. Jacques is noted as the first African–American actor to appear in a regular role on a western series, portraying Simon Blake on the eighth season of Rawhide (1965–1966).
Biography
Early life and education
St. Jacques was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He had a sister, Barbara Ann. Shortly after his birth, his parents divorced; he moved with his mother and sister to New Haven, Connecticut.[1] St. Jacques' mother Vivienne later worked as a medical technician at Yale University. After graduating from Hillhouse High School, St. Jacques attended Yale, where he studied drama and psychology.[1] Upon graduation, he worked as an assistant director, actor and fencing instructor for the American Shakespearean Festival in New Haven. St. Jacques staged all of the fencing scenes and duels while at the company and would continue to practice fencing for the rest of his life.[2]
After moving to New York City, St. Jacques continued to pursue acting and studied at the Actors Studio.[3] To support himself, he worked as a model, dishwasher and a busboy.[1] St. Jacques first professional acting role was in the off-Broadway play High Name Today.[2] St. Jacques was cast in the role of "Judge" in the off-Broadway performance of Jean Genet's play The Blacks at St. Mark's Playhouse in 1960.
Career
After appearing in bit parts on television in the early 1960s, St. Jacques made his film debut in a small part in the 1964 film Black Like Me.[4] He followed with a role in The Pawnbroker later that year. He appeared in supporting roles in The Comedians (1967) and The Green Berets (1968). St. Jacques best-known film roles were that of Coffin Ed in the blaxploitation classics Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) (adapted from crime novels by Chester Himes) and Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972). In the early 1970s, St. Jacques began teaching fencing and acting at the Mafundi Institute in Watts, Los Angeles. In 1973, he produced, directed, and starred in the crime film Book of Numbers.[2]
During the 1960s, St. Jacques also guest starred on numerous television shows including East Side/West Side, Daktari, The Virginian, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. In 1965, he was cast as "Simon Blake" in the Western series Rawhide, the first Black-American actor to ever be cast as a regular on a prime time Western series. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, St. Jacques continued with roles on stage, film and television. He became known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces" due to the varied parts he played throughout his career.[4] In 1976, St. Jacques starred as Othello in the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre production of the play of the same name. He remained active in stage work throughout his career, touring in productions of Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, A Raisin in the Sun, and the stage adaptation of The Man with the Golden Arm.[5] From 1988 to 1989, St. Jacques had a two-year stint as Judge Clayton C. Thomas on the syndicated TV show Superior Court. In 1989, he played abolitionist Frederick Douglass in Edward Zwick's Glory.[4] His final film role was in the 1991 sci fi film Timebomb released after his death.
Personal life
St. Jacques was a lifelong bachelor, having never married.[6] In August 1969, St. Jacques granted an interview to columnist Earl Wilson and told Wilson of his plans to adopt two African-American boys who were 6 and 7 years old.[7] The adoption apparently never happened, but by the early 1970s, St. Jacques claimed to have two older sons, Raymond, Jr and Sterling. In May 1972, Sterling, then reported to be 22 years old, made news after four men attempted to rob St. Jacques' Bel Air home. Sterling was the only person home at the time (St. Jacques was in Dallas at the time) and fled after calling police. The four men were apprehended after their getaway car stalled in St. Jacques' driveway.[8] Sterling went on to appear in St. Jacques' 1973 film Book of Numbers.[2] In a 1973 interview, St. Jacques claimed that Raymond, Jr was living in Boston.[2]
However, in a 1988 interview with the Chicago Tribune, St. Jacques still claimed to have two sons and said Sterling was appearing on a television show in Düsseldorf.[9] The adoption of Raymond, Jr. and Sterling was apparently never official. In his will, St. Jacques claimed that he had no children and named only Sterling, whom he identified as his nephew, in his will. St. Jacques bequeathed Sterling $1 from his $750,000 estate.[6]
Sterling St. Jacques
In the mid 1970s, Sterling became a high fashion model and dancer who frequent New York City nightclubs. He was briefly engaged to fellow model Pat Cleveland.[10][11] In her 2016 memoir Walking with Muses, Cleveland stated that their engagement came to an end because Sterling was gay. Sometime in the early 1980s, Sterling moved to Europe where he found moderate success as an Italo disco singer. Sterling reportedly died of complications of AIDS in 1990 although his death has never been officially confirmed and his true fate remains unknown.[12] Stanley Bennett Clay, who was a close friend of Raymond St. Jacques later alleged that St. Jacques had not been Sterling's adoptive father but his sugar daddy, but that they later had a falling out.[13]
Activism
St. Jacques frequently spoke of the prejudices he and other Black American actors faced and difficulties in being cast in non-stereotypical, thoughtful roles. He later worked to help Black Americans find work behind the camera.[4] In 1977, he publicly criticized the lack of minority actors in Star Wars (which he acknowledged having seen five times) and other science fiction films.[14][15] St. Jacques was also an activist for Black American civil rights. In 1985, he and other protestors were arrested during an anti-apartheid demonstration outside of the South African embassy in Washington, D.C.[16]
Death
On August 27, 1990, St. Jacques died of lymphoma at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.[5][4] His funeral was held on August 31 at The Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, after which he was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills.[17]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | Black Like Me | Burial Insurance Salesman | |
1964 | The Pawnbroker | Tangee | |
1965 | Mister Moses | Ubi | |
1966 | Mister Buddwing | Hank | |
1967 | The Comedians | Captain Concasseur | |
1968 | Madigan | Dr. Taylor | |
1968 | The Green Berets | Sgt. Doc McGee | |
1968 | If He Hollers, Let Him Go! | James Lake | |
1968 | Uptight | B.G. | |
1969 | Change of Mind | David Rowe | |
1970 | Cotton Comes to Harlem | Coffin Ed Johnson | |
1972 | Cool Breeze | Bill Mercer | |
1972 | The Final Comedown | Imir | |
1972 | Come Back, Charleston Blue | Coffin Ed Johnson | |
1973 | Book of Numbers | Blueboy Harris | |
1974 | Lost in the Stars | John Kumalo | |
1977 | The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover | Martin Luther King | |
1977 | Roots | The drummer | TV Mini-Series, Episode: "Part IV" |
1977 | The Baron | ||
1978 | Born Again | Jimmy Newsom | |
1980 | Cuba Crossing | Mr. Bell | |
1984 | The Evil That Men Do | Randolph | |
1987 | The Wild Pair | Ivory | |
1988 | They Live | Street Preacher | |
1989 | Glory | Frederick Douglass | Uncredited |
1991 | Voodoo Dawn | Claude | released 5 months after his death |
1991 | Timebomb | Det. Sanchez | released 13 months after his death |
References
- ^ a b c Flint, Peter B. (August 30, 1990). "Raymond St. Jacques, an Actor Of TV and Films, Is Dead at 60". nytimes.com. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "AFRO talks to...Director, Producer, Actor 'Book of Numbers' Raymond St. Jacques". Baltimore Afro-American. Baltimore, Maryland. April 10, 1973. p. 14.
- ^ Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 278. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
- ^ a b c d e "Actor Raymond St. Jacques Succumbs to Cancer At 60". Jet. 78 (23). Johnson Publishing Company: 12–14. September 17, 1990. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
- ^ a b "Raymond St. Jacques; Actor was 60". latimes.com. August 29, 1990. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
- ^ a b "Late Actor St. Jacques Leaves Estate Valued At $750,000 To Kin, Friends". Jet. 79 (26). Johnson Publishing Company: 35–36. April 15, 1991. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
- ^ Wilson, Earl (August 2, 1969). "Bachelor Actor St. Jacques To Adopt 2 Children". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. p. 21. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
- ^ "Suspects Caught In Stalled Car". Toledo Blade. Toledo, Ohio. May 27, 1972. p. 5. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
- ^ Weaver, Maurice (September 29, 1988). "Raymond St. Jacques Ascends the Bench". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
- ^ "A Fast Paced Ride With the Jet Set Crowd". Ebony. 21 (10). Johnson Publishing Company: 72. August 1977. ISSN 0012-9011.
- ^ Scott, Walter (November 28, 1976). "Walter Scott's Personality Parade". Reading Eagle. Reading, Pennsylvania.
- ^ Cleveland, Pat; Glennon, Lorraine (2017). Walking with the Muses: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster. p. 316. ISBN 978-1501108235.
- ^ Doug Cooper Spencer, Stanley Bennett Clay
- ^ St. Jacques, Raymond (July 17, 1977). "The Great White Void". Los Angeles Times. p. R2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Monagle, Matthew (December 14, 2015). "The Fight Over Star Wars and Racism in 1977". Film School Rejects. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017.
- ^ "Actor Arrested". Jet. 68 (2). Johnson Publishing Company: 61. March 25, 1985. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
- ^ "Funeral Rites Set for Raymond St. Jacques". Los Angeles Times. August 31, 1990. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
External links
- Raymond St. Jacques at the Internet Broadway Database
- Raymond St. Jacques at IMDb
- " 'Blast from the Past' with Raymond St. Jacques" for the WGBH series, Say Brother
- Raymond St. Jacques at Find a Grave
- 1930 births
- 1990 deaths
- 20th-century American male actors
- Activists for African-American civil rights
- African-American male actors
- African-American film directors
- American film directors
- African-American film producers
- American film producers
- American male fencers
- American male film actors
- American male Shakespearean actors
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
- Deaths from cancer in California
- Deaths from lymphoma
- Drama teachers
- Male actors from Hartford, Connecticut
- Male Western (genre) film actors
- Yale University alumni