Earle Hyman Biography

Earle Hyman (October 11, 1926 - November 17, 2017) was an American stage, television, and film actor. Hyman is known for his role on ThunderCats as the voice of Panthro and various other characters. He also appeared on The Cosby Show as Cliff's father, Russell Huxtable.

Life and career

Hyman was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, as George Earle Plummer according to the North Carolina Birth Index. He is believed to have been of Native American ancestry. His parents, Zachariah Hyman (Tuscarora/Meherrin) and Maria Lilly Plummer (Haliwa-Saponi/Nottoway), moved their family to Brooklyn, New York in the late 1920s, where Hyman primarily grew up. Hyman became interested in acting after seeing a production of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts.

"The first play I ever saw was a present from my parents on my 13th birthday "? Nazimova in "?Ghosts"? at Brighton Beach on the subway circuit "? and I just freaked out."?

He made his Broadway stage debut as a teenager in 1943 in Run, Little Chillun, and later joined the American Negro Theater. The following year, Hyman began a two-year run playing the role of Rudolf on Broadway in Anna Lucasta, starring Hilda Simms in the title role. He was a member of the American Shakespeare Theatre beginning with its first season in 1955, and played the role of Othello in the 1957 season.

In December 1958 he came to London to play the leading role in Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, by Errol John, at the Royal Court.

In 1959 he again appeared in the West End, this time in the first London production of A Raisin In the Sun alongside Kim Hamilton. The show ran at the Adelphi Theatre and was directed again by Lloyd Richards. A life member of The Actors Studio, Hyman appeared throughout his career in productions in both the United States and Norway, where he also owned property. In 1965, won a Theatre World Award and in 1988, he was awarded the St Olav's medal for his work in Norwegian theater.

In addition to his stage work, Hyman appeared in various television and film roles including adaptions of Macbeth (1968), Julius Caesar (1979), and Coriolanus (1979), and voiced Panthro on the animated television series ThunderCats (1985-1990). He played two roles (at different times) on television's The Edge of Night.

One of his most well known roles, that of Russell Huxtable in The Cosby Show, earned him an Emmy Award nomination in 1986. He played the father of lead character Cliff Huxtable, played by actor Bill Cosby, despite only being 11 years older than Cosby.

Personal life

Rumored to be first cousin once removed of singer Phyllis Hyman.

Death

Hyman died at age 91 on November 17, 2017, at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1945	The Lost Weekend	Smoking Man	Uncredited
1954	The Bamboo Prison	Doc Jackson, medic
1966	Afrikaneren	Raymond	Alternative title: The African
1972	The Possession of Joel Delaney	Charles	Credited Earl Hyman
1975	The Super Cops	Police Detective	Uncredited
1979	Coriolanus	Cominius
	Julius Caesar	Cicero
1982	Fighting Back	Police Chief Freeman	Alternative title: Death Vengeance
1985	Thundercats - HO: The Movie	Panthro	Voice
1988	Light Years	Maxum (Voice)	Alternative title: Gandahar

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Adam	1 episode
	The United States Steel Hour	Jim	1 episode
1963	Espionage	Premier Djatuma	1 episode
	East Side/West Side	Mr. Marsden	1 episode
1964	The Nurses	Buratta	1 episode
	Playdate	Crouch	1 episode
	The Defenders	District Attorney	1 episode
1965	Seaway	Tom Nkomo	1 episode
1968	Macbeth	Macbeth	Television movie
1980	The Ivory Ape	Inspector St. George	Television movie
1982	Long Day's Journey Into Night	James Tyrone	Television movie
1984	The Edge of Night	Bailiff	Unknown episodes
1984-1992	The Cosby Show	Russell Huxtable	40 episodes
1985	ThunderCats	Panthro/Redeye (Voice)	125 episodes
	The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus	King Awgwa (Voice)	Television movie
1987	A Different World	Russell Huxtable	Episode: :Sometimes You Get the Bear, Sometimes the Bear Gets You"
1989	A Man Called Hawk	Jefferson Adams	Episode: "Passing the Bar"
1994	Seier'n er vr	Sammy	Unknown episodes
1995	All My Children	Mr. Patterson	Unknown episodes
1996	Hijacked: Flight 285	Wayne Edwards	Television movie
1997	Cosby	Rev. Mitchell	1 episode
2000	The Moving of Sophia Myles	Bishop Heath	Television movie
2001	Twice in a Lifetime	Charley Freeman	1 episode

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Film, series or play
1956	Theatre World Award	Won	-	-
1980	Tony Award	Nominated	Best Featured Actor in a Play	The Lady From Dubuque
1983	CableACE Award	Won	Actor in a Dramatic Presentation	Long Day's Journey Into Night
1986	Emmy Award	Nominated	Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series	The Cosby Show (For episode "Happy Anniversary")