Christopher St. John
Christopher St. John | |
---|---|
Born | |
Other names | Chris St. John |
Occupation(s) | Actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter |
Years active | 1968–1988 |
Children | Kristoff St. John |
Christopher St. John, sometimes credited as Chris St. John, is an American film and television actor. He is also a film producer, film director and screenwriter and played a minor role in the television series Remington Steele.
Career
[edit]A member of the Actors Studio starting in the mid-1960s,[1][2] St. John is best known for playing the role of Ben Buford in the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft. Between 1968 and 1988, he appeared in eight film and television productions.
In addition to appearing as George Lattimer in Top of the Heap (1972), St. John wrote, directed, and produced the film.[3][4] It was entered into the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival[5] and was nominated for the Golden Bear, the festival's biggest prize.[6] Richard Brody in The New Yorker described the film as a "crucial work of Afrofuturism."[7]
In 2014, the documentary film that St. John began in 1980, A Man Called God, debuted at the San Diego Black Film Festival. The film was co-directed with his son Kristoff St. John.[8]
Personal life
[edit]He had one son, actor Kristoff St. John, who died on February 3, 2019.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "Film Star Returns on Visit". The Virgin Islands Daily News. August 27, 1970.
- ^ Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 279. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
- ^ Greenspun, Roger (June 3, 1972). "Top Of The Heap (1972) Screen: 'Top of the Heap' Examines Black Cop With Problems". The New York Times.
- ^ Sachs, Ben (12 September 2013). "A rare film from the blaxploitation era". Chicago Reader. Sun-Times Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- ^ "IMDB.com: Awards for Top of the Heap". imdb.com. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ Sachs, Ben (20 September 2013). "My full interview with longtime Chicago film programmer Floyd Webb". Chicago Reader. Sun-Times Media, LLC. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- ^ Brody, Richard (July 3, 2020). "What to Stream: "Top of the Heap," a Tale of a Black Cop in Seventies D.C., Is a Crucial Work of Afrofuturism". The New Yorker. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- ^ Clifford, Kembra (30 January 2014). "CENTER STAGE: 'Y&R's' Kristoff St. John On His Shocking New Documentary… And Whether or Not Neil Will Make It Down the Aisle!". Soap Opera Network. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- ^ Bowe, Jillian (February 4, 2019). "The Young and the Restless: Kristoff St. John Dead at 52". Daytime Confidential. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
External links
[edit]
- Living people
- American male film actors
- African-American film directors
- Film directors from Connecticut
- African-American screenwriters
- American male screenwriters
- American film producers
- African-American male actors
- American male television actors
- English-language film directors
- 21st-century African-American male actors
- American screen actor stubs