Bond Baddie, 'Annie' Actor, and 7Up Pitchman Geoffrey Holder Dies at 84 [View all]

[yuiyoshida]

Source: Yahoo News

Geoffrey Holder, whose energetic laugh helped sell cans of 7Up in the '70s and '80s, has died at the age of 84.

While Holder, who passed away Sunday in Manhattan from complications from pneumonia, according to The New York Times, was most often recognized for being "the Un-Cola" pitchman — during which he rocked white suits, tropical print scarves, and kicked back among palm trees with his maaarvelous beverage — he had a long and diverse career in which he acted, danced, choreographed, painted, and even penned a Caribbean cookbook.

At 6-foot-6, the Trinidadian was an imposing figure, which made for a great villain when he played the unkillable voodoo priest Baron Samedi in the James Bond flick Live and Let Die opposite Roger Moore. Perhaps his best-remembered film role was as a good guy in 1982's musical Annie, where he played Mr. Warbucks's bodyguard, Punjab, and rescued the little red-head from Miss Hannigan and Rooster — with a little help from his turban. He also appeared in the original Rex Harrison-starring Doctor Dolittle, Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask, and Eddie Murphy's Boomerang. Holder's booming baritone also provided the narration for Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005, his last notable film credit.

Read more: https://celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/bond-baddie-annie--actor-and-7up-pitchman-geoffrey-holder-dies-at-84-171437243.html