Lou Myers, 76; played Mr. Gaines on ‘A Different World’
Tonia McDonald of Mr. Myers’s nonprofit, Global Business Incubation Inc., said he died Tuesday night at Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia. McDonald said Wednesday that Mr. Myers had been in and out of the hospital since before Christmas and collapsed recently.
A native of Chesapeake, W.Va., Mr. Myers had returned to the state and lived in the Charleston area.
His television credits included ‘‘NYPD Blue,’’ “E.R.,’’ “The Cosby Show,’’ “Touched by an Angel,’’ and more. He also appeared in a number of films, including ‘‘Tin Cup,’’ “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,’’ and the “Wedding Planner.’’
Mr. Myers also appeared on Broadway including ‘‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’’ and ‘‘Oprah Winfrey’s The Color Purple.’’
In 2005, the Appalachian Education Initiative listed Mr. Myers as one of 50 ‘‘Outstanding Creative Artists’’ from the state of West Virginia and featured him in their coffee table book Art & Soul.
He began singing jazz and blues with the touring company of ‘‘Negro Music in Vogue,’’ according to a biography provided by McDonald.
His cabaret show has been acclaimed in Berlin, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and New York, as well as Los Angeles at the Roosevelt Hotel.
Mr. Myers was chairman of Global Business Incubation that helps urban small businesses and chairman of the Lou Myers Scenario Motion Picture Institute/Theatre.
He won a NAACP ‘‘Best Actor’’ award for playing the Stool Pigeon in ‘‘King Hedley II,’’ a play by August Wilson.
No comments:
Post a Comment