Adolph Caesar (December 5, 1933 – March 6, 1986) was an American actor, voice actor, theatre director, playwright, dancer, and choreographer. He was the voice of the United Negro College Fund's publicity campaign, reciting the iconic slogan "...because a mind is a terrible thing to waste."

Adolph Caesar (December 5, 1933 – March 6, 1986) was an American actor, voice actor, theatre director, playwright, dancer, and choreographer. He was the voice of the United Negro College Fund's publicity campaign, reciting the iconic slogan "...because a mind is a terrible thing to waste."

Caesar was born in Harlem, New York City. At age 12, he contracted laryngitis which led to his notably deep voice. After graduating from George Washington High School in 1952, Caesar enlisted in the United States Navy during the Korean War era, serving as a hospital corpsman for five years, achieving the rank of chief petty officer. Upon his discharge from the service, he decided to break into the theater and went on to study drama at New York University, graduating in 1962.

Caesar made his film debut in 1969 in Che!, playing Cuban revolutionary Juan Almeida Bosque. A year later, Caesar became an announcer for and then joined the Negro Ensemble Company in 1970 for productions such as The River Niger, Square Root of the Soul, and The Brownsville Raid. Caesar also later worked with the Minnesota Theater Company, Inner City Repertory Company, and the American Shakespeare Theatre. He had a stint on the soap operas Guiding Light and General Hospital in 1964 and 1969, respectively.

Thanks to his voice, Caesar found frequent work as a voice-over artist for television and radio commercials, including theatrical previews and radio commercials for many blaxploitation films such as Cleopatra Jones, Superfly, Truck Turner and The Spook Who Sat by the Door. For many years, he was the voice of the United Negro College Fund's publicity campaign, reciting the iconic slogan "...because a mind is a terrible thing to waste."

Known for his signature deep voice, Caesar was a staple of Off-Broadway as a member of the Negro Ensemble Company, and as a voiceover artist for numerous film trailers. He earned widespread acclaim for his performance as a Sgt. Vernon Waters in Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play, a role he reprised in the 1984 film adaptation A Soldier's Story, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.

On the basis of his Soldier's Story success, Caesar was cast in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple as Old Mister Johnson, the father of Danny Glover's character. He also appeared on an episode of The Twilight Zone and an ABC Afterschool Special. Caesar's last completed film was Club Paradise, released posthumously.

Caesar was working on the Los Angeles set of the 1986 film Tough Guys (with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas) when he suffered a heart attack and died a short time later. His role was recast with Eli Wallach. He was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

AWARDS

▪1982 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play

A Soldier's Play

▪1983 Obie Award Outstanding Off-Broadway Achievement

A Soldier's Play

▪1984 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor

A Soldier's Story

▪1985 NAACP Image Award Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

A Soldier's Story