Raymond St. Jacques

Raymond St. Jacques, born James Arthur Johnson on March 1, 1930, in Hartford, Connecticut, was an American actor, director, and producer whose work across stage, film, and television spanned more than three decades. Following his parents' divorce shortly after his birth, he relocated with his mother and sister Barbara Ann to New Haven, Connecticut, where his mother Vivienne later worked as a medical technician at Yale University. After completing his secondary education at Hillhouse High School, St. Jacques enrolled at Yale, studying drama and psychology. He subsequently joined the American Shakespearean Festival in New Haven as an assistant director, actor, and fencing instructor, staging all of the company's fencing scenes and duels. He continued to practice fencing throughout the remainder of his life.

St. Jacques later moved to New York City, where he studied at the Actors Studio and supported himself working as a model, dishwasher, and busboy. His first professional acting role came in the off-Broadway production High Name Today, and he went on to be cast as "Judge" in Jean Genet's The Blacks at St. Mark's Playhouse in 1960. His Broadway career ran from 1955 to 1962 and included appearances in Night Life, the play The Cool World, and Seventh Heaven.

St. Jacques made his film debut in a small role in the 1964 production Black Like Me, followed that same year by a part in The Pawnbroker. Supporting roles in The Comedians and The Green Berets followed in 1967 and 1968, respectively. He became most widely recognized for playing Coffin Ed in the blaxploitation films Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970), adapted from crime novels by Chester Himes, and its sequel Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972). In 1973, he produced, directed, and starred in the crime film Book of Numbers. His son Sterling also appeared in that film. Later in his career, St. Jacques portrayed abolitionist Frederick Douglass in Edward Zwick's 1989 film Glory, and his final film role, in the science fiction picture Timebomb, was released posthumously in 1991.

On television, St. Jacques appeared in bit parts in the early 1960s before guest starring on programs including East Side/West Side, Daktari, The Virginian, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. In 1965, he was cast as Simon Blake in the eighth season of the Western series Rawhide, becoming the first African-American actor to hold a regular role in a prime time Western series. From 1988 to 1989, he played Judge Clayton C. Thomas on the syndicated series Superior Court.

St. Jacques remained active in stage work throughout his career, touring in productions of Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, A Raisin in the Sun, and a stage adaptation of The Man with the Golden Arm. In 1976, he starred as Othello in the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre production of the play. In the early 1970s, he taught fencing and acting at the Mafundi Institute in Watts, Los Angeles. The variety of roles he took on across his career earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces."

St. Jacques was a vocal advocate for African-American civil rights and frequently addressed the difficulties Black actors faced in obtaining non-stereotypical roles. He worked to help African Americans secure employment behind the camera and in 1977 publicly criticized the absence of minority actors in Star Wars and other science fiction films. In 1985, he was among those arrested during an anti-apartheid demonstration outside the South African embassy in Washington, D.C.

A lifelong bachelor, St. Jacques had two sons, Raymond Jr. and Sterling, the latter adopted. Sterling appeared in Book of Numbers and later worked as a high-fashion model and dancer. St. Jacques died of lymphoma on August 27, 1990, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. His funeral was held on August 31 at The Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, and he was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.