Holder, Geoffrey 1930-

PERSONAL

Full name, Geoffrey Lamont Holder; born August 1, 1930, in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, West Indies; son of Arthur (a sales representative) and Louise (maiden name, De Frense) Holder; married Carmen de Lavallade (an actress, dancer, and college professor), June 26, 1955; children: Leo Anthony Lamont. Education: Attended Queens Royal College, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, 1948.

Addresses:

Home—2059 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10037.

Career:

Dancer, choreographer, director, actor, costume designer, singer, composer, and writer. Started stage career as costume designer for brother Roscoe Holder's dance company; first stage appearance as dancer with brother's dance company, 1942; became head of his own dance touring company, 1950; performed with his dance company in Puerto Rico and throughout the islands of the West Indies, 1953; made first stage appearance in United States with his dance company at several venues, including White Barn Theatre, Westport, CT, and Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, Lee, MA, 1953; appeared with his dance company in biannual concerts at Kaufmann Auditorium, New York City, 1956-60; starred in calypso revue at Loews Metropolitan Theatre, Brooklyn, NY, 1957; appeared in Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy, 1958; designed costumes and appeared with John Butler Dance Theatre, New York City, 1958; danced in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Festival, 1960; appeared as solo dancer at International Festival in Lagos, Nigeria, 1962; choreographer and solo dancer for CBS, 1962; performed with his dance company at the Harkness Dance Festival, New York City, 1963, and choreographed and designed costumes for the same festival, 1966; WNBC-TV, drama critic, 1973-?; appeared in a series of popular television ads in the late 1970s and early 1980s for products such as Seven-Up soft drinks; also appeared in other television commercials, including, Armory Auto Group, 1993, and Isle of the Capri Casino, 1995; appeared in print ads for Vidal Sassoon's hair care products for men, 1985-86; choreographed productions for station WELI, Boston, MA. Variously exhibited his paintings, including at shows at Barbados Museum, Puerto Rico, Gropper Gallery, Cambridge, MA, Grinnel Galleries, Detroit, MI, and Barone Gallery, New York City, 1955-59. Worked for the Government of Trinidad, port services.

Member:

Screen Actors Guild, Actors' Equity Association, American Guild of Variety Artists, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, American Guild of Musical Artists.

Awards, Honors:

Guggenheim Fellowship in painting, 1957; United Caribbean Youth Award, 1957; Clio awards, for television commercials, 1970 and 1972; Drama Desk Award, best costume design, Drama Desk Award nomination, outstanding director of a musical, Antoinette Perry Awards, best costume design and best director of a musical, 1975, all for The Wiz; Drama Desk Award nominations, outstanding costume design and outstanding choreography, Antoinette Perry Award nomination, outstanding costume designer of a Broadway play, 1978, all for Timbuktu!; Monarch Award, National Council of Culture and Arts, 1982; Harold Jackman Memorial Award, 1982; Ellis Island Medal of Honor, National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations, 1986; Liberty Award, 1986.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

(Broadway debut) Dancer, House of Flowers, Alvin Theatre, 1954.

Solo dancer, Aida, Metropolitan Opera Association, New York City, 1956.

Solo dancer, La perichole, Metropolitan Opera Association, 1956.

Specialty dancer, Show Boat, Jones Beach Marine Theatre, New York City, 1957.

Lucky, Waiting for Godot, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, 1957.

Twelfth Night, Cambridge Drama Festival, Cambridge, MA, 1960.

Josephine Baker's Revue, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1964.

Good Dragon, The Masque of St. George and the Dragon, Actors Studio, New York City, 1973.

Yeshu, From the Memoirs of Pontius Pilate, Actors Studio, 1976.

Night of One Hundred Stars Two, Radio City Music Hall, New York City, 1985.

The Players Club Centennial Salute, Sam S. Shubert Theatre, New York City, 1989.

Night of One Hundred Stars Three, Radio City Music Hall, 1990.

Also appeared in Ballet Congo (revue); Bal Creole (revue); and Bal Negre (revue).

Stage Director:

The Wiz, Majestic Theatre, New York City, 1975-78, then Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1978-84, later Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, 1984.

Timbuktu!, Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York City, 1978.

Stage Choreographer:

Brouhaha, Folksbiene Playhouse, New York City, 1960.

Mhil Daiim, Actors Studio, New York City, 1964.

Three Songs for One, Ted Shawn Theatre, Becket, MA, 1964.

I Got a Song, Studio Arena Theatre, Buffalo, NY, 1974.

Timbuktu!, Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York City, 1978.

(And staging, with others) Fifty Golden Years of Showstoppers, Radio City Music Hall, New York City, 1982.

Stage Costume Designer:

The Twelve Gates, Ted Shawn Theatre, Becket, MA, 1964.

Three Songs for One, Ted Shawn Theatre, 1964.

The Wiz, Majestic Theatre, 1975-78, then Broadway Theatre, 1978-84, later Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 1984, all New York City.

Timbuktu!, Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York City, 1978.

Major Tours:

Director and costume designer, The Wiz, U.S. cities, 1977—.

Film Appearances:

Carib Gold, 1957.

Dancer, All Night Long, J. Arthur Rank, 1962.

Willie Shakespeare, Doctor Dolittle, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1967.

Bazooki man, Krakatoa, East of Java (also known as Volcano), Cinerama, 1969.

Sorcerer, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask (also known as Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex), United Artists, 1972.

Baron Samedi, Live and Let Die (also known as Ian Fleming's "Live and Let Die"), United Artists, 1973.

Himself, Bond 1973: The Lost Documentary, 1973.

Voice of Friday, The Noah, 1975.

Cujo Quadrill, Swashbuckler (also known as Scarlet Buccaneer), Universal, 1976.

Punjab, Annie, Columbia, 1982.

Himself, All by Myself (also known as All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story and Eartha Kitt—Ganz allein), 1982.

Narrator, Dance Black America, Horizon Releasing, 1985.

Narrator, Where Confucius Meets the New Wave, 1987.

Edgar Allen Poe's "The Gold Bug," 1990.

Narrator, Tropical Rainforest, 1992.

Nelson, Boomerang, 1992.

Gerry, Hasards ou coincidences (also known as Chance or Coincidence), 1998.

Dr. Bowman, Goosed, 1999.

Himself, Geoffrey Holder: The Unknown Side (documentary), 2002.

Himself, Carmen and Geoffrey (documentary), 2005.

Himself, The History Makers (documentary), 2005.

Narrator, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Warner Bros., 2005.

Himself, Premiere Bond: Opening Nights (documentary short), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Entertainment (Europe), 2006.

Film Work:

Choreographer, Live and Let Die (also known as Ian Fleming's "Live and Let Die"), 1973.

Choreographer, Swashbuckler (also known as Scarlet Buccaneer), 1976.

Director of play, The Wiz, 1978.

Made a documentary film based on his own story with members of his dance company, 1950s.

Television Appearances; Series:

Chef du jour, 1995.

Voice of Ray the Sun, Bear in the Big Blue House, Disney Channel, 1998.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Slave on ship, The Man without a Country, ABC, 1973.

Mr. Johnson, Ghost of a Chance, CBS, 1987.

Dr. Bowman, Goosed, 2000.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Lion, Androcles and the Lion, NBC, 1967.

Jupiter, "The Gold Bug," ABC Weekend Specials, ABC, 1980.

Punjab, Lights, Camera, Annie!, 1982.

The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts, 1983.

Night of 100 Stars II, 1985.

Ghost of Christmas Future, John Grin's "Christmas" (also known as Christmas), ABC, 1986.

Sixteenth Annual Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, syndicated, 1989.

The 62nd Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1990.

Going, Going, Almost Gone! Animals in Danger, 1994.

Voice of God, "Parable of the Clown," Rosie O'Donnell's Kids Are Punny, 1998.

Honoree, The Ninth Annual Trumpet Awards, TBS, 2001.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Calypso singer, "The Bottle Imp," The United States Steel Hour (also known as The U.S. Steel Hour), 1957.

Genie, "Aladdin," The DuPont Show of the Month, 1958.

Himself, Ni figue ni raisin, 1964.

Zwengi, "The Pride of the Lioness," Tarzan, 1967.

Mayko, "King of the Dwsari," Tarzan, 1968.

"A Gun for Jai," Tarzan, 1968.

Paul Trion, "Nice Girls Marry Stock Brokers," It Takes a Thief, 1970.

The Tonight Show, 1975.

Good Morning, America, ABC, 1976.

The Cheshire Cat, "Alice in Wonderland," Great Performances, PBS, 1983.

Today (also known as The Today Show), NBC, 1983.

Hour Magazine, 1984.

Chef du Jour, 1995.

Voice of Master Pi, "Problem Solving in Shangri-La," Cyberchase (animated), PBS, 2002.

Voice of Master Pi, "Double Trouble," Cyberchase (animated), PBS, 2003.

Television Choreographer; Series:

(Opening theme) The Cosby Show, NBC, 1984.

Television Choreographer; Specials:

"Dance Theatre of Harlem" (also known as "Dance in America"), Great Performances, PBS, 1977.

Television Choreographer; Episodic:

The Cosby Show, NBC, 1988-89.

RECORDINGS

Albums:

Recorded Geoffrey Holder and His Trinidad Hummingbirds on the Riverside label; also recorded an album of song stories for Mercury records.

Video Games:

Jean St. Mouchoir, Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller, 1995.

Voice of narrator, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 2005.

WRITINGS

Novellas:

(With Tom Harshman) Black Gods, Green Islands (collection), 1957.

Cookbooks:

Geoffrey Holder's Caribbean Cookbook, 1974.

Other:

Contributed articles to New York Times Magazine, Show, Saturday Review, and Playbill.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

St. James Guide to Black Artists, St. James Press, 1997.

Periodicals:

Dance Magazine, September, 2000, p. 14.

Jet, March 7, 1994, p. 8.

New York Times, May 25, 1975.