Brock Peters passes away

[Loni Denard]

'Mockingbird,' 'Star Trek' Actor Brock Peters Dies

POSTED: 4:28 pm EDT August 23, 2005
UPDATED: 5:07 pm EDT August 23, 2005

LOS ANGELES -- Brock Peters, the legendary actor best known for playing the black man falsely accused of rape in the classic drama "To Kill A Mockingbird," has died.

His longtime companion Marilyn Darby said Peters died Tuesday at home in Los Angeles after battling pancreatic cancer.

He was 78.

Born George Fisher on July 2, 1927, in New York City, Peters made his film debut in 1954 opposite Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte in the musical "Carmen Jones."

He went on to star opposite Dandridge, Sidney Potier, Sammy Davis Jr. and Pearl Bailey in the 1959 musical "Porgy and Bess" before starring as Tom Robinson opposite Gregory Peck in "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 1962.

Science fiction fans knew Peters as Admiral Cartwright from the movies "Star Trek IV" and "Star Trek VI" and the recurring role of Joseph Sisko in the television series "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."

Peters also appeared in the films "Soylent Green" and "Ghosts of Mississippi," and appeared as a guest actor in several television shows, including "Mission: Impossible," "Gunsmoke," "Battlestar Galactica" and "Murder, She Wrote."

On Broadway, Peters earned a Tony nomination in 1973 for "Lost in the Stars." He also earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1991.

Peters also lent his distinctive vocals to several voice roles in such animated shows as "Batman," "The Wild Thornberries" and "Samurai Jack."

The actor also voiced the role of Darth Vader in the National Public Radio adaptations of the original Star Wars trilogy in 1981.

Peters was a widow and is survived by one daughter, Lise Jo Peters.