Geoffrey Holder

Did you know?!

1. Behind the award

   Holder won two Tony Awards in 1975 for directing and designing costumes for The Wiz, and was the first Black man nominated in either category.

2. Early training

   Choreographer Agnes de Mille saw Holder dance in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and asked him to come work with her in New York. Once there, he enrolled at Katherine Dunham's dance school and spent two years teaching folkloric forms.

3. A first

   Holder was a painter, and in 1956 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in fine arts. Viking Press published a book of his photography, Adam, in 1986.

4. Beyond film

   Holder sang "Kiss the Girl" and "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid at the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990.

5. A change of course

   In ads for the soft drink 7 Up during the 1970s and 1980s, Holder served as a spokesman. He declared it the "uncola", and in the 1980s he called it "crisp and clean, and no caffeine; never had it, never will".