- Born
- Died
- Tall, lean, handsome veteran stage and classically trained actor, best known for his iconic role as Youngblood Priest - the long haired, stylishly dressed cocaine dealer who wants to make one last big score so he can retire from the cocaine business, in the seminal 1972 crime drama Super Fly. Son of a jazz musician who worked as a factory worker to support his family, Ron O'Neal grew up in the ghetto. After graduating Glenville High School, he attended Ohio State University, and after a disastrous semester where he, in his words, "just played bridge", developed an interest in acting after seeing Finian's Rainbow at the Karamu House. He joined the Karamu House and trained with the interracial acting troupe between 1957-1966 acting in productions of Kiss Me Kate and A Streetcar Named Desire. He moved to New York in 1967 to pursue a career in acting. He taught acting classes in Harlem to support himself and appeared in Off-Broadway plays and summer stock.
His first big break came when he was cast in a Broadway production of Ceremonies In Dark Old Men. In 1970, he was propelled into the spotlight after appearing in Charles Gordone's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, No Place to Be Somebody. The stirring performance earned him an Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, Clarence Derwent Award and the National Theater Award. He had two minor roles in Move (1970) and The Organization (1971), before being contacted by an old friend from Cleveland, screenwriter Phillip Fenty, who wanted him to play the title role in a film about a drug dealer who wants to leave his life of crime behind him. Shot on a starvation budget, Super Fly became a surprise box-office hit. The gifted actor's remarkable performance brought a great measure of class and depth to the role, which if done by a lesser actor could have easily have become "cartoonish".
O'Neal received both praise and criticism for his performance. And there was even talk of an Oscar Nomination. But the criticism proved too much as he later said, "..the press thought I was some n****r off the street who made a movie about his own dissolute life. I never used drugs in those days. And my film was about a dealer who quit selling drugs and got out of that system. Still, the negative press soured my career and, eventually, it soured me."
He followed up the highly successful Super Fly with the sequel, Super Fly T.N.T. (1972), in which he starred in and directed. Unfortunately, the film failed at the box-office and O'Neal soon found the only film roles offered to him were pimps and drug dealers. He returned to Broadway in 1975, replacing Cleavon Little in Murray Schisgal's All Over Town, which was directed by Dustin Hoffman and was Othello at Connecticut's American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford in the 1970s. He'd also been Macbeth and Petruchio in the Taming of the Shrew.
A film career that began with such promise was never allowed to come to fruition. Amidst the political backlash and controversy surrounding Super Fly, and other so called "blaxploitation" films, he was typecast-unable to get roles of merit. He was subjugated to supporting roles beneath his talent and ability - appearing in a string of mediocre low budget and straight to video films. Only his role in the 1977 drama Brothers, and his role in the 1981 made-for-TV film The Sophisticated Gents were of any merit. He also appeared in a number of television guest spots, usually as detectives. He co-starred in the short-lived 1982 series "Bring 'Em Back Alive" and in the television series "The Equalizer" in 1986. O'Neal could be seen in episodes of "A Different World" and "Frank's Place" among others. He appeared in a number of stage productions, including Othello at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in the 1990s. He once again directed, the 1991 well-intentioned drama Up Against A Wall and appeared with fellow "blaxploitation" icons in the 1996 hit film Original Gangsters.
Unfortunately, he was never able to break free from the iconic image he helped to create. On January 14, 2004, he died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was only 66. Ironically, he died a day after Super Fly made its debut on DVD.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jenks - Forever tagged as the mustachioed, super bad anti-hero in the classic 70's flick Super Fly (1972), actor Ron O'Neal spent a good deal of his post "Super Fly" career trying the break the chains of the stereotype that made him an instant name in black-oriented films.
Born in Utica, New York on September 1, 1937, Ron grew up in Cleveland's ghetto and was the son of a jazz musician who worked as a factory worker to support his family. After graduating Glenville High School, he attended Ohio State University but left after developing an interest in acting after seeing a production of "Finian's Rainbow" at the Karamu House. He joined that theatre company and trained with the interracial acting troupe between 1957-1966, appearing in such productions as "Kiss Me Kate" and "A Streetcar Named Desire."
Ron moved to New York in 1967 to pursue a professional career and taught acting classes in Harlem to support himself. In various off-Broadway and summer stock plays, his first break came when he was cast in a production of "Ceremonies In Dark Old Men" but was propelled into the spotlight after making his Broadway debut in the 1969 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "No Place to Be Somebody." His stirring performance earned him the Obie, Drama Desk, Clarence Derwent and National Theatre award.
After appearing in two minor roles in Move (1970) and The Organization (1971), Ron was contacted by a Cleveland pal, screenwriter Phillip Fenty to play the title role of cocaine dealer who wants to free himself of his life of crime. Shot on a starvation budget, the action-driven Super Fly (1972) became a surprise box-office hit. The gifted actor's remarkable performance brought a great deal of class and added depth to the role which, had it been done by a lesser actor, could have easily dissipated into caricature.
The movie's sequel, Super Fly T.N.T. (1973), which he also wrote and directed, did dismally at the box office and O'Neal struggled thereafter when the only film roles offered to him were the same type of unappetizing urban characters. Moreover, the then-called "blaxploitation" flicks had become politically out of fashion. Ron instead left the movie scene and returned to Broadway. In 1975, he replaced Cleavon Little in the Murray Schisgal play "All Over Town," directed by Dustin Hoffman. He also did a Shakespearean turn as "Othello" at Connecticut's American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford and portrayed "Macbeth" and "Petruchio" as well.
Ron returned to films co-starring with Billy Jack's Tom Laughlin in the action western The Master Gunfighter (1975) written and directed by Laughlin. He also costarred with Bernie Casey and Vonetta McGee in the excellent but little seen drama Brothers (1977) that focused on blacks and the prison system. In the equally obscure The Hitter (1978), he starred as a former prizefighter now a struggling pool hustler and portrayed a cop who assists Chuck Norris in the action thriller A Force of One (1979).
In his continuing uphill battle, Ron found featured work in quality TV movies as well with Freedom Road (1979) starring none other than Muhammad Ali, as well as Brave New World (1980) and Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980) the latter starring Emmy-winner Powers Boothe. Appearing in such guest shots as "Hot L Baltimore," "The Greatest American Hero," "Remington Steele," "Crazy Like a Fox," "Knight Rider," "Hill Street Blues," "Beauty and the Beast," "Murder, She Wrote," "Living Single," "The Wayans Bros." and "Frank's Place," Ron was also a regular in the short-lived adventure series Bring 'Em Back Alive (1982), appeared in the acclaimed mini-series The Sophisticated Gents (1981) and had recurring roles as a lieutenant in The Equalizer (1985) and as the father of Jasmine Guy's Whitley character in the Cosby spin off A Different World (1987).
Later support work in testosterone-fed action films included Red Dawn (1984) starring Patrick Swayze; Mercenary Fighters (1988) starring Peter Fonda; and Hero and the Terror (1988) again starring Chuck Norris. He subsequently joined forces with former 1970's black action stars Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier and Richard Roundtree in the popular crimer classic Original Gangstas (1996) directed by Williamson. Ron's last two films was in two other Williamson actioneers -- The Rage Within (2001) and On the Edge (2002).
Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Ron died on January 14, 2004, at the age of 66. Divorced from former actress Carol Tillery Banks who appeared with him in the film When a Stranger Calls (1979), he was survived by second wife Audrey Pool.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- SpousesAudrey Pool(1993 - January 14, 2004) (his death)Carol Tillery Banks(November 10, 1973 - 1980) (divorced)
- Had a superb singing voice and loved to sing opera.
- Was offered a role in the 1988 Keenon Ivory Wayans Film, "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" and in the 1990 "Superfly" remake "The Return of Superfly" but he turned down both roles.
- Flunking out of Ohio State University, his acting career was triggered after seeing "Finian's Rainbow" by chance at the Karamu House, a highly regarded nonprofessional company that had presented interracial casting since 1913. He won a chorus role in a musical and stayed with the company for six years.
- Was long time friends with R&B legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Solomon Burke.
- Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2000.
- The [Superfly] experience left me upset. Controversy served to obscure my performance, which was not an easy thing to pull off. Outside New York, people assumed I really was a hustler. 'Superfly' took me from relative obscurity, but I haven't been offered that many roles since.
- Frankly, I've not been pleased with most of what I've had to do. I have a considerable amount of experience, and what they've asked me to do has not demanded that much of me.
- [My father] had a strenuous job, lifting pipes and feeding them into some machine, and he lifted so many of them that it killed him. I swore right then that they'd never work me to death in those factories. I told my mother that; I told everybody.
- My father was a jazz musician originally. He played in the pit orchestra of 'Blackbirds of '29,' and with Jelly Roll Morton, and others. In later years, though, he had to take a temporary job in a defense plant to support the family. It turned out not to be so temporary.
- I had always been so dedicated! I'd figured that if I'd devote myself to art and acting, everything else would follow. You know, 'As you sow, so shall you reap,' and all that. Everybody had told me all I needed was a break. Well, I'd won four awards and had a very good spread in The New York Times and I thought, 'This is my break!' But I still didn't get work. I watched other new people whose careers took off. They were even on television talk shows. When I asked my agent why I hadn't been on any television shows, he just couldn't say. Right then I found myself face to face with some facts about life, show business and racism that I hadn't wanted to accept. I became absolutely paranoiac.
- Bring 'Em Back Alive (1982) - $10,000 per week
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