25 Facts About Cleavon Little

Cleavon Jake Little was an American stage, film and television actor.

Cleavon Little began his career in the late 1960s on the stage.

Cleavon Little's first leading television role was that of the irreverent Dr Jerry Noland on the ABC sitcom Temperatures Rising.

Cleavon Little later starred on the Fox sitcom True Colors.

Cleavon Little was the brother of singer DeEtta Cleavon Little West, best known for her performance of the vocals on the chart-topping Bill Conti song "Gonna Fly Now," the main theme to Rocky.

Cleavon Little had another sister, Rosemarie Little Martin, and two brothers, Everett and Roy.

Cleavon Little was raised in San Diego, California, and attended Kearny High School, graduating in 1957.

Cleavon Little graduated from San Diego State College in 1965 with a degree in speech therapy and appeared in A Raisin in the Sun in 1962 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.

Cleavon Little worked his way through college as a janitor and gave Black poetry presentations to clubs and groups.

Cleavon Little won a scholarship from the American Broadcasting Company to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and was named the best actor in the class of 1967.

Cleavon Little made his professional debut in February 1967, appearing off-Broadway at the Village Gate as the Muslim Witch in the original production of Barbara Garson's MacBird.

Cleavon Little made his Broadway debut in 1969 as Lee Haines in John Sebastian and Murray Schisgal's musical Jimmy Shine with Dustin Hoffman in the title role.

In 1971, Cleavon Little was chosen to portray the blind radio personality Super Soul in the car-chase movie Vanishing Point.

Cleavon Little then starred on the ABC sitcom Temperatures Rising, which aired in three different iterations from 1972 to 1974, with Little's character of Dr Jerry Noland as the only common element.

Cleavon Little made a minor appearance in the Six Million Dollar Man episode, "Population: Zero", as one of the NASA deliveryman handing Colonel Steve Austin his space suit.

Studio executives were apparently concerned about Pryor's reliability, given his reputation for drug use and unpredictable behavior, and thought Cleavon Little would be a safer choice.

In 1975, Cleavon Little returned to Broadway to portray the role of Lewis in the original production of Murray Schisgal's All Over Town under the direction of Dustin Hoffman.

Cleavon Little played a supporting role to Pryor in the racing movie Greased Lightning, based on the true life story of Wendell Scott, the first black stock car racing winner in America.

Cleavon Little returned to the New York stage in 1981 in the off-Broadway production The Resurrection of Lady Lester, a "poetic mood song" by OyamO, playing the legendary jazz saxophonist Lester Young.

In December 1985, Cleavon Little opened at Broadway's Booth Theatre as Midge in Herb Gardner's play I'm Not Rappaport with Judd Hirsch, who won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.

Cleavon Little had originated the role of Midge in the Seattle Repertory Theatre production.

In 1989 he appeared as a closeted gay man in Hirsch's sitcom Dear John in the episode "Stand by Your Man," for which Cleavon Little won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, defeating Robert Picardo, Jack Gilford, Leslie Nielsen, and Sammy Davis Jr.

Cleavon Little was slated to star on the television series Mr Dugan, where he was to play a black congressman, but that series was poorly received by real black congressmen and was cancelled before making it to air.

Cleavon Little appeared in the television series MacGyver as Frank Colton, one half of a bounty hunter brother duo.

Cleavon Little died of colon cancer at his home in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles on October 22,1992.