Geoffrey Holder, Famed Artist, Actor, Pitchman Dies Of Pneumonia

Geoffrey Holder will mainly be remembered for his role as the debonair pitchman for 7UP, but he was an amazingly versatile artist. He shared his talent with us on many different stages.

Holder’s family attorney, Charles M. Mirotznik, broke the news to the world and explained that Holder’s death was a result of complications due to pneumonia. He was 84.

Holder was an imposing figure, standing 6-foot-6, but he was a gentle giant. He loved his craft of entertaining and did so in many forms. He starred in film, TV, theater and was also a talented painter. In 1975, he took home two Tony Awards for the popular musical The Wiz.

One of his greatest roles came in the 1967 film Doctor Dolittle, but he will be better remembered for his role as the villain in the 1973 James Bond movie Live and Let Die starring Roger Moore.

Decades later, Holder worked with Eddie Murphy in the 1992 hit Boomerang and did voice work in the popular 2005 movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Holder made the word Un-Cola a well known jargon as his role as pitchman for 7UP.

Many were surprised to see such an accomplished actor do TV commercials, but Holder saw commercials as just another platform to display his abilities. He did the 7UP commercials in the ’70s and ’80s.

“I’m no snob. The commercial is an art form unto itself. After all, you are seducing people,” he told People Magazine in 1975.

According to CNN, Holder was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1930. He honed his artistic abilities at the young age of 7 by joining his older brothers in their dance group. In 1954 Holder made his Broadway debut in the successful musical “Hall of Flowers.”

After finding success on Broadway he joined the New York Metropolitan Opera Ballet in 1955. He starred in the 1957 all-black production of Waiting for Godot. Also, in 1957 Holder won an Guggenheim fellowship for his painting.

In 1973 Holder took on writing. He published a Caribbean cuisine cookbook.

Holder, according to the Times, governed his artistic life simply. He said he was shaped into the man he was by the experiences he had as a West Indian child who had yet seen the world.

Holder is survived his wife of 54 years, Carmen De Lavallade, and their one son, Leo.

This evening I will pop the tab on a 7UP in honor of Holder. I hope others will enjoy the Un-Cola with me.