Geoffrey Holder

Geoffrey Holder (1930-2014) won two Tony Awards for his direction and costume design for the hit Broadway musical The Wiz and received several awards for his direction, costume design, and choreography of Timbuktu starring Eartha Kitt. His on-screen credits include Boomerang, Dr. Doolittle, Annie (as Punjab), and James Bond: Live and Let Die (as Baron Samedi) which he also choreographed. He was a premier danseur in the Metropolitan Opera’s Aida and performed in the Broadway productions of House of Flowers and Waiting for Godot. Holder set ballets on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Pennsylvania Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. Dance writer Jennifer Dunning chronicled his career in the book Geoffrey Holder: A Life in Dance, Theater, and Art. He and his wife, Carmen De Lavallade, were the subjects of the 2004 documentary Carmen & Geoffrey. Holder was also the author of Black Gods, Green Islands and a Caribbean cookbook. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in painting. Holder learned many of his talents from his elder brother Boscoe Holder.