TVPast Forums - Voice actor Brock Peters dies

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Brock Peters, a stage and film actor who played a man falsely accused of rape in "To Kill a Mockingbird," has died at the age of 78.

The veteran actor, singer and producer died in his Los Angeles home on Tuesday, Aug. 23 from complications of pancreatic cancer, according to published reports.

Born with the name George Fisher on July 2, 1927 in New York City, Peters began his performing career early, landing a part in a 1943 Broadway production of "Porgy and Bess." He went on to hold various odd jobs, but always pursued showbiz, studying for the stage in New York and singing in a touring cabaret act.

In 1954, he made his screen debut as the belligerent Sgt. Brown in "Carmen Jones" and later as the menacing Crown in the 1959 film version of "Porgy and Bess." These roles unfortunately typecast him as angry black men for numerous roles.

His minor but pivotal role as Tom Robinson in the 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee's "Mockingbird," starring Gregory Peck, earned him critical praise. Around the same time, he starred a gay trumpet player in "The L-Shaped Room." His other film credits include parts in "Major Dundee," Sidney Lumet's "The Pawnbroker," "The McMasters," the sci-fi classic "Soylent Green," "Two-Minute Warning" and as Admiral Cartwright in "Star Trek IV" and "VI."

He continued to juggle stage work, appearing in "Othello," "The Great White Hope," "Cry, the Beloved Country," "Driving Miss Daisy" and "My Children, My Africa." He received a Tony nomination for playing the lead in "Lost in the Stars," a role he reprised in the 1974 movie adaptation.

He also enjoyed a healthy television career, appearing in "Battlestar Galactica," "Roots: The Next Generation," "The Young and the Restless" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." His deep bass voice was also featured in a number of cartoons: "Batman: The Animated Series" as Lucius Fox (a role Morgan Freeman took in "Batman Begins"), "Captain Planet," "The Wild Thornberrys," "Samurai Jack," "Static Shock" and "Aaahh!!! Real Monsters." He also voiced Darth Vader in the NPR radio version of the "Star Wars" trilogy.

He and his wife Delores Daniels, who died in 1990, started the independent production company Delbro Enterprises to produce the feature-length comedy "Five on the Black Hand Side" (1973) and the PBS documentary "This Far by Faith" (1975).

Peters was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1976 and received a life achievement award from the National Film Society a year later. In 1990, the Screen Actors Guild also honored him with an achievement award for his durability and versatility.

Peters is survived by his daughter Lise Jo and companion Marilyn Darby.