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Veteran stage/film actor Earle Hyman appeared on "The Cosby Show" as Russell Huxtable, Cliff's dad, in 40 episodes. | ||||
Vital Information | ||||
Gender: | Male | |||
Born: | October 11, 1926 | |||
Place of birth: | Rocky Mount, North Carolina, U.S. | |||
Died | November 17, 2017 | (aged 91)|||
Deathplace | Englewood, NJ, U.S. | |||
Family/Career Information | ||||
Occupation/ Career: |
Stage, film and television actor | |||
Character/series information | ||||
Appeared on /involved with: |
The Cosby Show | |||
Episodes appeared in/ involved with: |
40 in series | |||
Character played | Russell Huxtable |
Earle Hyman (born October 11, 1926-died November 17, 2017) was an American stage, television, and film actor. Hyman is known for his recurring role on ThunderCats as the voice of Panthro and later on The Cosby Show as Cliff's father, Russell Huxtable.
Life and career[]
A native of Rocky Mount, NC, Hyman's parents, Zachariah Hyman and Maria Lilly Plummer, moved their family to Brooklyn, NY, where Hyman primarily grew up. Earle became interested in acting after seeing a production of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts. “The first play I ever saw was a present from my parents on my 13th birthday — Nazimova in ‘Ghosts’ at Brighton Beach on the subway circuit — and I just freaked out.”[1][2]
He made his Broadway stage debut as a teenager in 1943 in Run, Little Chillun, and later joined the American Negro Theatr. The following year, Hyman began a two year run playing the role of Rudolf on Broadway in Anna Lucasta, starring Hilda Simms in the title role.[3] He was a member of the American Shakespeare Theatre beginning with its first season in 1955, and played the role of Othello in the 1957 season.[4]
In 1959, Earle appeared in the West End in the first London production of "A Raisin In the Sun" alongside Kim Hamilton. The show ran at the Adelphi Theatre and was directed again by Lloyd Richards.
A life member of The Actors Studio,[5] Hyman has appeared throughout his career in productions in both the United States and Norway (he is fluent in Norwegian) where he also owns a home on Norway's west coast and an apartment in Oslo. In 1965, Earle won a Theatre World Award and in 1988, he was awarded the St Olav's medal for his work in Norwegian theater.
In addition to his stage work, Hyman has appeared in various television and film roles including adaptions of Macbeth (1968), Julius Caesar (1979), and Coriolanus (1979), and voiced Panthro on the animated television series ThunderCats (1985-1990). One of his most well known roles, that of Russell Huxtable in The Cosby Show, earned him an Emmy Award nomination in 1986 where he played the father of lead character Cliff Huxtable, played by actor Bill Cosby, despite only being 11 years senior to Cosby. He is the third cousin of late R&B/jazz singer Phyllis Hyman.
Death[]
Hyman, who never married or had any children, died at age 91 on November 17, 2017, at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey.[6]
Filmography[]
Film | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
1945 | The Lost Weekend | Smoking Man | Uncredited |
1954 | The Bamboo Prison | Doc Jackson, medic | |
1966 | Afrikaneren | Raymond | Alternative title: The African |
1975 | The Possession of Joel Delaney | Charles | Credited Earl Hyman |
1979 | Coriolanus | Cominius | |
Julius Caesar | Cicero | ||
1982 | Fighting Back | Police Chief Freeman | Alternative title: Death Vengeance |
1985 | Thundercats - HO: The Movie | Panthro | Voice |
1988 | Light Years | Maxum (Voice) | Alternative title: Gandahar |
Television | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1957 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Adam | 1 episode |
The United States Steel Hour | Jim | 1 episode | |
1963 | Espionage | Premier Djatuma | 1 episode |
East Side/West Side | Mr. Marsden | 1 episode | |
1964 | The Nurses | Buratta | 1 episode |
Playdate | Crouch | 1 episode | |
The Defenders | District Attorney | 1 episode | |
1965 | Seaway | Tom Nkomo | 1 episode |
1968 | Macbeth | Macbeth | Television movie |
1980 | The Ivory Ape | Inspector St. George | Television movie |
1982 | Long Day's Journey Into Night | James Tyrone | Television movie |
1984 | The Edge of Night | Bailiff | Unknown episodes |
1984-1992 | The Cosby Show | Russell Huxtable | 40 episodes |
1985 | ThunderCats | Panthro/Redeye (Voice) | 130 episodes |
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | King Awgwa (Voice) | Television movie | |
1987 | A Different World | Russell Huxtable | Episode: :Sometimes You Get the Bear, Sometimes the Bear Gets You" |
1989 | A Man Called Hawk | Jefferson Adams | Episode: "Passing the Bar" |
1994 | Seier'n er vår | Sammy | Unknown episodes |
1995 | All My Children | Mr. Patterson | Unknown episodes |
1996 | Hijacked: Flight 285 | Wayne Edwards | Television movie |
1997 | Cosby | Rev. Mitchell | 1 episode |
2000 | The Moving of Sophia Myles | Bishop Heath | Television movie |
2001 | Twice in a Lifetime | Charley Freeman | 1 episode |
References[]
- ↑ "From Ibsen to Pinter and back again Earle Hyman’s long journey with the masters"
- ↑ Winer, Laurie. "From Cosby's Father to Colonel Pickering, By Way of Norway", The New York Times, 1991-03-24. Retrieved on 2008-11-09.
- ↑ Buckley, Michael (2005-10-23). Stage and Screen Star Earle Hyman. playbill.com. Retrieved on 2008-11-09.
- ↑ Template:Citation
- ↑ Garfield, David (1980). . MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
- ↑ Earle Hyman, Grandpa Huxtable on 'The Cosby Show,' Dies at 91. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on 20 November 2017.
External links[]
- Earle Hyman at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
- Earle Hyman at the Internet Broadway Database
- Audio Interview (2008)
- Earle Hyman article at Wikipedia