Ivan Nathaniel Dixon III was born on April 6, 1931, in New York's Harlem area, where his parents owned a grocery store. He grew up in the South and initially headed towards a life of crime before taking an interest in acting. This led him to study dramatics at Lincoln Academy, a black boarding school in Gaston County, North Carolina, and later graduate from North Carolina Central University with a degree in drama in 1954.
Ivan's Broadway debut occurred three years later in William Saroyan's "The Cave Dwellers", and in 1959, he earned the role of Joseph Asagai in Lorraine Hansberry's landmark drama "A Raisin in the Sun". He and Sidney Poitier, who starred in the play, became lifelong friends, and Ivan provided stunt double assistance for Poitier in "The Defiant Ones" (1958).
Ivan's early film career included minor parts in "Something of Value" (1957) and "Porgy and Bess" (1959),both of which starred Poitier. He and Poitier recreated their respective Broadway roles in the film version of "A Raisin in the Sun" (1961),which received high marks. Ivan's most mesmerizing film role came in 1964 with "Nothing But a Man", where he starred alongside Abbey Lincoln as a young, aimless railroad worker who gives up his job to marry a schoolteacher and minister's daughter.
Ivan's character matures as he strives to build a noble, dignified life for the couple, who are living in the deeply prejudiced South. The film was hailed for its powerful portrayals of black characters and its stark, uncompromising script. Dixon never found a comparable role in film again.
During this time, he was cast in several TV dramas, including "Perry Mason", "The Twilight Zone", "Laramie", "The Outer Limits", and several other series. Following another strong but secondary showing as Poitier's brother in "A Patch of Blue" (1965),Dixon won the role of Kinchloe on "Hogan's Heroes" (1965). He eventually left the series after five seasons, the only one of the original cast to do so.
Ivan's acting work was limited after he left "Hogan's Heroes", but he remained active in the civil rights movement and refused to play stereotypical roles. Instead, he segued into directing and was a noted success, helping hundreds of television productions during the '70s and '80s.
Ivan also managed to direct films, including "Trouble Man" (1972) and the controversial crime drama "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" (1973),the story of the first black officer in the Central Intelligence Agency, who turns revolutionary. Throughout his career, Ivan actively worked for better roles for himself and other black actors.
Among the honors he received were four NAACP Image Awards, the National Black Theatre Award, and the Paul Robeson Pioneer Award from the Black American Cinema Society. Ivan battled kidney disease and died of a brain hemorrhage at age 76 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was survived by his wife of 58 years, Berlie Ray, and their two surviving children, Doris Nomathande Dixon and Alan Kimara.
