Lou Myers | |
---|---|
Born | Lewis Eddy Myers September 26, 1935 |
Died | February 19, 2013 | (aged 77)
Occupation | Actor |
Known for | Role as Vernon Gaines on the NBC-TV series A Different World |
Children | 1 |
Lou Myers (September 26, 1935 – February 19, 2013),[1] known alternately as Lou Leabengula Myers,[2] was an American actor.
Myers was born in Chesapeake, West Virginia, the son of Dorothy Louise Brown Myers and Otis Louis Myers, a coal miner who spoke fluent German. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1951. He was discharged in 1953 and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in sociology from West Virginia State University and an MFA in theatre from NYU.[3][4]
Myers was typically typecast as a grumpy old man, but he appeared in many movies, plays, and television programs. He made his Broadway debut in 1975 as Reverend Mosely in the production The First Breeze of Summer, alongside Ethel Ayler, Moses Gunn, Bebe Drake, and Barbara Montgomery.[5] He joined them in recreating their roles for a television adaptation that aired on Great Performances in 1976.[6]
Myers was an original cast member of many August Wilson plays, including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, and The Piano Lesson.
He is perhaps best known as the feisty Mr. Vernon Gaines in the sitcom A Different World. Myers was also an accomplished pianist and founder/director of the Tshaka Ensemble Players in Africa.[7]
Myers died at the Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia after battling pneumonia for several months.[8]