Actor Raymond St. Jacques was born James Arthur Johnson in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1930, but he and younger sister Barbara were raised in Depression-era New Haven after their parents' divorce. He started writing and performing in his own short plays in elementary school and developed a strong interest in acting after appearing in a production of "Othello". A stint with the Air Force in 1952 during the Korean War temporarily interrupted his professional momentum, but he managed to arrange plays and entertain servicemen during his stay of duty. Upon his discharge, he refocused, auditioned and was accepted into both the Actor's Studio and 'Herbert Berghof' , which relayed the stories of various African-Americans during the late 1800s. A regular in a number of TV series, he failed to make a deep impression in any of them to earn him top-flight stardom, but did distinguish himself in an array of guest star roles, over 300 in his career. He was also a noted civil rights activist and lectured both here and abroad on apartheid issues. St. Jacques died of lymph cancer in 1990 at age 60.
Father of Sterling St. Jacques
In 1974, Raymond formed his own film company, "St. Jacques Organization, Inc.", which produced and directed the film Book of Numbers .
In 1969 St. Jacques received the NAACP Image Award for Best Motion Picture Actor.
Son Sterling St. Jacques , a dancer and sometime actor, died of AIDS in 1984.
Strong-looking classical stage actor who transferred his talents to black-oriented film roles in the late 60s and 70s.
Became the first black actor to become a regular on a western series during the 1965-1966 season of "Rawhide" as cattle drover Simon Blake.
