Holder, Geoffrey (1930– )

Dancer, choreographer, and artist born in Trinidad. He made his Broadway debut in House of Flowers in 1955, and danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in 1957. A talented painter, he won a Guggenheim grant (1957) and became an avid collector of folk art. He created costumes and scenery for dance companies. He won Tony awards for costume design and direction of The Wiz (1975), he choreographed Timbuktu (1978), and played Punjab in the film Annie (1981). With his varied talents and standing six feet six inches tall, he often seemed larger than life, while his distinctively resonant voice became familiar to millions through several television commercial series.

Born in Port-of-Spain, he started dancing at the age of seven in his brother's dance group, which he took to Puerto Rico in 1952, there attracting the attention of choreographer Agnes DeMille. He married the dancer Carmen de Lavallade.