Geoffrey Holder, a Tony Award-winning director, actor, painter and choreographer who led the groundbreaking show "The Wiz" to Broadway, pitched 7UP on TV, and played a scary villain in the James Bond film "Live and Let Die," has died at 84.
The Associated Press reported producer and family friend Anna Glass as saying Holder died Sunday of complications from pneumonia at Mount Sinai St. Luke' s Hospital in New York City.
The 6-foot-6, Trinidad-born Holder won Tonys in 1975 for directing and designing the costumes for an all-black retelling of "The Wizard of Oz." In 1978, he directed and choreographed the Broadway musical "Timbuktu!" and earned another Tony nomination for best costume.
He is survived by his wife, the dancer Carmen de Lavallade, and their son, Leo.