Actor, Adolph Caesar, was known for many scene stealing roles throughout the years- he was nominated for an Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actor” in the film, A Soldier’s Story, and he was also a very successful voice over artist. But it was his Color Purple role as “Old Mister” the close-minded father of “Mister,” (played by Danny Glover), that he is most remembered for. Remember how “Old Mister” despised Celie’s” (Whoopi Goldberg) looks? He was something else in that film and he made us all believe that his character was real. Simply put, Caesar was one of those actors who didn’t just act out his lines, he became his character.

The thing that never ceases to amaze us, is that Caesar is another legendary actor, who starred in one of the most iconic films in history, but yet when he passed away almost three decades ago, there wasn’t as much media coverage of his death that many probably would have expected for a man who contributed so much to the film industry. So that is what propelled us to shine some light on this brotha.

Here’s how Adolph Caesar died…

Adolph Caesar passed away on March 6, 1986 after suffering a major heart attack while he was on a Los Angeles movie set filming his scenes for the movie, Tough Guys. The paramedics were called and by the time he’d arrived to the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, it was reported that he was in full cardiac arrest, ultimately dying just a few minutes after arriving to the hospital. He was just 52 years young.

Caesar was survived by his two daughters, who were teenagers at the time, his then one year old son, and his wife, Diane Caesar.

We’ve heard all too often about celebrities who have died in the midst of doing what they love most- we’ve heard about the legendary Redd Foxx who died in 1991 after suffering a heart attack on the set of his TV show, The Royal Family, and the list goes on and on.

The pressures that many celebs face while working on a project and having to constantly be ‘on,’ can lead to a very high level of anxiety and excitement, causing their bodies to just go into overload mode. The reality is that this can happen to any of us ILOSM family. We’re Old Schoolers and we’re not getting any younger in this game of life- we’re getting wiser, yes, but not younger- so if we’re not already doing so, let’s remember to do everything we can to stay on top of our health and manage our stress as well.

We here at ILOSM are grateful that we can still learn from these great old school entertainers we admire, even after they are long gone from this earth. There are valuable lessons they’ve taught us through their lives and legacies and there are also very valuable lessons they’re sometimes teaching us in their unfortunate deaths. We salute Adolph Caesar for being one of the baddest actors to have ever done it! May his legacy continue to live on.