Howard Rollins

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Howard Ellsworth Rollins Jr. (born October 17, 1950 in Baltimore , Maryland , † December 8, 1996 in New York City , New York ) was an American film and stage actor .

Life

Howard Rollins was raised in a modest family and was born in Baltimore, the youngest of four children to a steel worker and housekeeper. Rollins graduated from the State College in Towson , where he dramatics studied. Encouraged by a friend, Rollins went to a casting for Of Mice and People at a theater in Baltimore and stood out for his acting talent.

In the mid-1970s, the African American moved to New York City, where he was hardly offered any major theater roles. In 1978 he made his debut as a film actor in the drama The Trial of the Moke at the side of the then also unknown actor Samuel L. Jackson . With a few exceptions, Rollins' career was limited to television films. Rollins' breakthrough as an actor came in 1981 when he took on the role of Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Miloš Forman's drama Ragtime , for which he was nominated for an Academy Award in 1982 for Best Supporting Actor. He was also nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for the same film . However, he was denied an award.

From 1988 to 1994 Rollins was in front of the camera for the crime series In the Heat of the Night , which meant another step up the career ladder for him.

Howard Rollins contracted AIDS in the mid-1990s . He was also diagnosed with malignant lymphoma in mid-October 1996 , from which he died six weeks later at the age of 46.

In October 2006, a wax statue depicting the actor was erected in the Senator Theater in Baltimore. This is now in the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1981: The Story of James Thornwell (Thornwell)
  • 1981: Ragtime
  • 1983: Jackson, Mississippi (For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story)
  • 1984: He's Fired, She's Hired
  • 1984: Sergeant Waters - A Soldier's Story
  • 1984: Where horror lurks (House of Dies Drear)
  • 1986: Times Square Gang (The Children of Times Square)
  • 1988-1994: In the Heat of the Night ( In the Heat of the Night , television series)
  • 1992: With Murder in Mind

Award (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rollins, Howard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rollins, Howard Ellsworth Junior (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film and stage actor
DATE OF BIRTH 17th October 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Baltimore , Maryland , USA
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 1996
Place of death New York City , New York , USA