Art Evans

Arthur James Evans was born on March 27, 1942, in Berkeley, California. An American actor whose career spanned nearly four decades, Evans worked across stage, film, and television. He died on December 21, 2024, in Los Angeles, of complications from diabetes, at the age of 82.

Evans began his acting career with Frank Silvera's Theater of Being in Los Angeles. He took a starring role in The Amen Corner, a production that transferred to Broadway in 1965. His first film appearance came in Claudine (1974), in an uncredited role. His first credited screen performance followed in 1976, when he played Bubba in the Chico and the Man episode "Too Many Crooks." That same year, his proficiency with multiple instruments proved useful when he portrayed Blind Lemon Jefferson in the film Leadbelly (1976).

Among his earlier film roles was that of the first victim in John Carpenter's Christine (1983), based on the Stephen King novel, in which Evans played a Detroit auto worker killed on an assembly line. In 1984, he co-starred in A Soldier's Story, an all-star African-American drama, playing the character Wilkie. He went on to appear in Die Hard 2 (1990) as Leslie Barnes, the chief engineer at Dulles International Airport who assists LAPD detective John McClane, played by Bruce Willis, in preventing terrorists from crashing planes. His additional film credits include Big Time (1977), Youngblood (1978), The Cracker Factory (1979), National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982), Into the Night (1985), Fright Night (1985), Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Native Son (1986), White of the Eye (1987), School Daze (1988), The Mighty Quinn (1989), Downtown (1990), Trespass (1992), CB4 (1993), Bitter Harvest (1993), Tales from the Hood (1995), and Metro (1997). Evans also appeared in the music video for Stevie Wonder's "Go Home."

On television, Evans made appearances across numerous series, including M*A*S*H, Hill Street Blues, The X-Files, Monk, and Family Matters, where he played a man claiming to be Santa Claus. His most recurring television role was on A Different World, where he portrayed Mr. Johnson, the father of Ron Johnson, a character played by Darryl M. Bell. In 2010, Evans appeared in Anderson's Cross as the grandfather of lead character Nick Anderson, and in 2011 he guest-starred on Last Man Standing in the episode "Grandparents Day."