THE BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY:: BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " IVAN DIXON " WAS AN ACTOR, DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER, BEST KNOWN FOR HIS SERIES ROLE IN THE 1960's SITCOM HOGANS HEROES : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

Tuesday 16 September 2014

BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " IVAN DIXON " WAS AN ACTOR, DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER, BEST KNOWN FOR HIS SERIES ROLE IN THE 1960's SITCOM HOGANS HEROES : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Ivan Dixon (April 6, 1931 – March 16, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer best known for his series role in the 1960s sitcom Hogan's Heroes, for his role in the 1967 telefilm The Final War of Olly Winter, and for directing many episodes of television series. Active in the civil rights movement since 1961, he served as a president of Negro Actors for Action.^[1]^[2]

Early life and career

Ivan Nathaniel Dixon, III, was born in Harlem, the son of a grocery store owner. When he was young, Dixon lived in the brownstone at 518 West 150th Street in Harlem, on the same block with Josh White, Ralph Ellison, and the Hines brothers, (Gregory and Maurice).^[2]He graduated from the Lincoln Academy in Gaston County, North Carolina,^[3] and went on to earn a drama degree from North Carolina Central University in 1954,^[2] where the theater troupe is now known as the Ivan Dixon Players.^[3] While at NCCU, he joined the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

In 1957, Dixon appeared on Broadway in William Saroyan's The Cave Dwellers, following this in 1959 with an appearance in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.^[4] In 1958, he was a stunt double for Sidney Poitier in the film The Defiant Ones, and went on to television roles on The Twilight Zone (in the episodes "The Big Tall Wish" and "I Am the Night—Color Me Black"), Perry Mason, and other series.

On February 20, 1962 Dixon co-starred with Dorothy Dandridge in the "Blues for a Junkman" episode of "Cain's Hundred", which was highest rated episode of the series. Extra footage, including a nude scene, was added to the TV version and released as a feature film in Europe titled The Murder Men, which was " Dandridge's last screen appearance.

On September 25, 1962, he portrayed Jamie Davis, a livery stable groom, in the episode "Among the Missing" of NBC's Laramie western series.^[5] In 1963 he played the role of John Brooks, alias Caleb Stone IV, in the Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Nebulous Nephew."

In 1964, Dixon starred in the independent film Nothing But a Man, written and directed by Michael Roemer; it was Dixon's performance in this film he was most proud of.^[2] He also appeared in an episode of ABC's The Fugitive entitled "Escape into Black".

Hogan's Heroes

In his best-known role, Dixon appeared as POW Staff Sergeant James (Ivan) "Kinch" Kinchloe in the ensemble cast of the television sitcom Hogan's Heroes. "Kinch" was the communications specialist, a translator of French, and the default third in command. Dixon played Kinchloe from 1965 to 1970, the only one of the series' long-time cast not to remain for the entire series. Kenneth Washington succeeded Dixon for the last year of the show's run, albeit with a different character name.

Film work and directing

From 1970 to 1993, Dixon worked primarily as a television director on such series and TV-movies as Trouble Man, The Waltons, The Rockford Files, The Bionic Woman, Magnum, P.I., and The A-Team. He also directed the controversial 1973 feature film The Spook Who Sat by the Door, based on Sam Greenlee's novel of the same name, about the first blackCIA agent, who takes his espionage knowledge and uses it to lead a black guerrilla operation in Chicago. The New York Times wrote in 2008:

Although The Spook caused controversy and with suppression facilitated by the F.B.I., was soon pulled from theaters, it later gained cult status as a bootleg video and in 2004 was released on DVD. At that time Mr. Dixon told The Times that the movie had tried only to depict black anger, not to suggest armed revolt as a solution.^[2]

Occasionally returning to acting, Dixon played a doctor and leader of a guerrilla movement in the controversial 1987 ABC miniseries Amerika, set in post-Soviet invasion Nebraska.

He also served as Chairman of the Expansion Arts Advisory Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts in 1978.

Later life and death

After his career as an actor and director, Dixon was the owner-operator of radio station KONI (FM) in Maui. In 2001, he left Hawaii for health reasons and sold the radio station in 2002.^[6]

Ivan Dixon died on March 16, 2008, aged 76, at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, of complications from kidney failure.^[7]

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957	Something of Value	Lathela, Loyal Gun-Bearer	Alternative title: Africa Ablaze
1959	Porgy and Bess	Jim
1961	A Raisin in the Sun	Asagai
1961	Have Gun -- Will Travel (TV Series)	"Long Way Home" (Air Date April 2, 1961)	Isham Spruce
1962	"Cain's Hundred" (TV Series)	Joe Sherman	"Blues for a Junkman" (February 20, 1962) Co-starring Dorothy Dandridge
1962	The New Breed	Wick	2 episodes
1963	Perry Mason	Caleb Stone IV	Episode: "The Case of the Nebulous Nephew"
	Going My Way	Robin Green	"Run, Robin, Run"
	Stoney Burke	Dr. Manning	Episode: "The Test"
1964	Nothing But a Man	Duff Anderson
1964	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Jean Francis Soumarin	Episode: "The Vulcan Affair"
1965	I Spy	Elroy Brown	Episode: "So Long, Patrick Henry"
1965	A Patch of Blue	Mark Ralfe
1965 to 1971	Hogan's Heroes	Staff Sergeant Ivan Kinchloe	145 episodes
1969	Where's Jack?	Naval Officer
1970	Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came	Sgt. Jones	Alternative title: War Games
1971	Clay Pigeon	Simon
1971 to 1972	Nichols		Director, 4 episodes
1973	The Spook Who Sat by the Door		Director
1974 to 1975	The Waltons		Director, 7 episodes
1975	Starsky and Hutch		Director, 1 episode
1975 to 1979	The Rockford Files		Director, 9 episodes
1976	Car Wash	Lonnie
1977	McCloud		Director, 1 episode
1978	The Bionic Woman		Director, 1 episode
1979	Wonder Woman		Director, 1 episode
1981 to 1982	Bret Maverick		Director, 3 episodes
1981 to 1983	The Greatest American Hero		Director, 6 episodes
1984	Trapper John, M.D.		Director, 1 episode
1982 to 1986	Magnum, P.I.		Director, 13 episodes
1987	Amerika	Dr. Alan Drummond	Miniseries
1989	Quantum Leap		Director, 1 episode
1989	In the Heat of the Night		Director, 1 episode
1991	Father Dowling Mysteries	Rev. Johnson	Episode: "The Joyful Noise Mystery"