Lincoln Kilpatrick (February 12, 1932 – May 18, 2004) was an American film, television, and stage

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Biography

Career

Born in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, Kilpatrick attended Lincoln University and earned a degree in drama before he began acting. Encouraged by

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

, Kilpatrick began his career in 1959 in the Broadway production of ''

A Raisin in the Sun ''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chi ...

''. In the 1960s, he mainly guest-starred in television roles and bit parts in movies. His primary acting talents were showcased in stage and theater work, which he remained active in until his death. Kilpatrick was co-founder of the Kilpatrick-Cambridge Theatre Arts School in Hollywood,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He was also the first African-American member of the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

Repertory Company.

Personal life and death

Kilpatrick was married 47 years to the singer and stage performer Helena Ferguson from 1957 until his death from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in 2004. Kilpatrick had five children: actor and composer Lincoln Kilpatrick Jr.; writer, director and actor DaCarla Kilpatrick; actor and director Erik Kilpatrick; actor Jozella Reed; and producer Marjorie L. Kilpatrick. He was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * * 1932 births 2004 deaths Lincoln University (Missouri) alumni American male film actors American male stage actors Male actors from St. Louis Deaths from lung cancer in California Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) African-American male actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people {{US-theat-actor-1930s-stub