Ron O'Neal, a tall, lean, and handsome veteran stage and classically trained actor, was best known for his iconic role as Youngblood Priest in the seminal 1972 crime drama Super Fly. Born to a jazz musician who worked as a factory worker to support his family, O'Neal grew up in the ghetto and developed an interest in acting after seeing Finian's Rainbow at the Karamu House.
He attended Ohio State University, but after a disastrous semester, he joined the Karamu House and trained with the interracial acting troupe between 1957-1966. He appeared in productions of Kiss Me Kate and A Streetcar Named Desire. O'Neal moved to New York in 1967 to pursue a career in acting, teaching acting classes in Harlem to support himself and appearing in Off-Broadway plays and summer stock.
His first big break came when he was cast in a Broadway production of Ceremonies In Dark Old Men. In 1970, he was propelled into the spotlight after appearing in Charles Gordone's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, No Place to Be Somebody. The stirring performance earned him an Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and the National Theater Award.
O'Neal received both praise and criticism for his performance in Super Fly. Despite the criticism, he followed up the highly successful film with the sequel, SuperFly T.N.T. (1972),in which he starred in and directed. Unfortunately, the film failed at the box office, and O'Neal soon found that the only film roles offered to him were pimps and drug dealers.
He returned to Broadway in 1975, replacing Cleavon Little in Murray Schisgal's All Over Town, which was directed by Dustin Hoffman. He also appeared in Othello at Connecticut's American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford in the 1970s and had roles in the Taming of the Shrew.
A film career that began with such promise was never allowed to come to fruition. Amidst the political backlash and controversy surrounding Super Fly, O'Neal was typecast and unable to get roles of merit. He was subjugated to supporting roles beneath his talent and ability, appearing in a string of mediocre low-budget and straight-to-video films.
Only his roles in the 1977 drama Brothers and the 1981 made-for-TV film The Sophisticated Gents were of any merit. He also appeared in a number of television guest spots, usually as detectives, and co-starred in the short-lived 1982 series "Bring 'Em Back Alive" and in the television series "The Equalizer" in 1986. O'Neal could be seen in episodes of "A Different World" and "Frank's Place" among others.
He appeared in a number of stage productions, including Othello at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in the 1990s. He once again directed the 1991 well-intentioned drama Up Against A Wall and appeared with fellow "blaxploitation" icons in the 1996 hit film Original Gangsters.
Unfortunately, O'Neal was never able to break free from the iconic image he helped to create. On January 14, 2004, he died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was only 66. Ironically, he died a day after Super Fly made its debut on DVD.
