Brock Peters
Brock Peters (
July 2,
1927 –
August 23,
2005), born
George Fisher in
New York City, was an
African American actor probably best known for the role in the 1962 film
To Kill a Mockingbird of Tom Robinson, the black man unjustly convicted of raping a white girl.
Born of African and West Indian parentage in New York City, Brock Peters set his sights on a show business career early on, at age ten. A product of NYC's famed Music and Arts High School, Peters initially fielded more odd jobs than acting jobs as he worked his way up from Harlem poverty. Landing a stage role in
Porgy and Bess in 1949, he quit physical education studies at
City College of New York and went on tour with the acclaimed musical. His film debut came in
Carmen Jones in 1954, but he really began to make a name for himself in such films as
To Kill a Mockingbird and
The L-Shaped Room. He received a
Tony nomination for his starring stint in
Broadway's
Lost in the Stars.
Peters worked with
Charlton Heston on several theater productions in the 1940s and 1950s. The two befriended each other and subsequently worked together on several films, including
Major Dundee,
Soylent Green, and
Two Minute Warning.
He died of
pancreatic cancer on
August 23,
2005 at the age of 78. He was survived by his daughter Lise Jo Peters.
Other roles include:
* Sergeant Brown in
Carmen Jones (1954 film version)
* Crown in
Porgy and Bess (1959 film version)
* Stephen Kumalo in
Lost in the Stars (stage version and 1974 film version) — nominated for a
Tony Award* Lieutenant Hatcher in the film
Soylent Green*
Darth Vader in the
Star Wars radio series*
Fleet Admiral Cartwright in
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
*
Lucius Fox in
Batman: The Animated Series*
Joseph Sisko,
Benjamin Sisko's father, in
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine*
Dark Kat in
SWAT Kats The Radical Squadron* "
Homefront"
* "
Paradise Lost"
* "
A Time to Stand"
* "
Far Beyond the Stars"
* "
Image in the Sand"
* "
Shadows and Symbols"
*
