Austin Stoker, actor from Trinidad who plays the heroic cop battling a group of thieves gang members inside a decommissioned police station in the John Carpenter thriller Attack the 13 . area, has died. He is 92 years old.
Stoker died Friday of kidney failure on his birthday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his wife, Robin, said. The Hollywood Reporter. “His transition was beautiful,” she said.
Stoker also portrayed Macdonald, Caesar’s human assistant to Roddy McDowall, in Battle for the planet monkey (1973), the fifth and final chapter in the original series, and he is Brick Williams, the love interest of private detective Pam Grier, in Sheba, Baby (1975).
On the milestone 1977 ABC miniseries Rootshe plays Virgil Harvey, the father of Mathilda of Olivia Cole.
In the cult classic Attack the 13 . area (1976), Stoker starred as Lieutenant Ethan Bishop, who moves from a desk job to taking charge of an LA station that’s about to close. “What I was trying to portray, even in the beginning, was, ‘What am I doing here, for God’s sake?'” he said.
When members of the street gang infiltrate, Bishop must defend the fort with the help of two criminals and a secretary.
Carpenter, who wrote, directed and edited, based the film – shot in just 20 days on a $100,000 budget – on Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo and was originally titled Anderson Alamo. (Ethan Hawke played a version of Bishop in the 2005 remake.)
Born in Alphonso Marshall on October 7, 1930 and raised in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, Stoker traveled to New York with fellow countryman Geoffrey Holder – they were in a local dance troupe – to pursue his career. show business.
In 1954, he played steel drums on Broadway in Truman Capote and Harold Arlen’s . House of flowersstarring Pearl Bailey, Alvin Ailey and Diahann Carroll, then toured a nightclub recording two albums.
After serving in the United States Army, where he was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Stoker studied acting with Lee Grant and Uta Hagen at HB Studio in New York, later moving to California. He made his televised bow in 1969 on an episode of The Mod Squad.
Next Battle for the planet monkeyhe voiced astronaut Jeff Allen in the Saturday morning animated series 1975-76 Back to the planet monkey. He then played Mitchell Owens on the CBS soap Bold and beautiful in the early 90s.
His resume also includes TV cameos McCloud, Kojak, Rookies, SWAT, The six million dollar man, Lou Grant, Cagney & Lacey and District and movies like High horror (1973), Carol Speed starred Abby (1974), Combat police (1974), Airport 1975 (1974), Time Traveler (1982) and 3 words from hell (2019).
He was married to the late actress and singer Vivian Bonnell, who was known as Enid Mosier while she was at House of flowers.
In addition to his wife – they have been together for 43 years – survivors include his children, Tiffany and Origen, and his nephews, Marcus and Austin.
