Everything about Ivan Dixon totally explained
Ivan Dixon (
April 6 1931 -
March 16 2008) was an
African American actor and
television director, best known for his series role in the 1960s
sitcom Hogan's Heroes, for his
Emmy Award-nominated role in the 1967
telefilm The Final War of Olly Winter, and for directing hundreds of episodes of television series. Active in the
Civil Rights movement, he served as a president of Negro Actors for Action.
Biography
Early life and career
Ivan Nathaniel Dixon III was born in Harlem, the son of a
grocery store owner. He graduated from the Lincoln Academy in Gaston County, North Carolina, and went on to earn a drama degree from
North Carolina Central University in 1954,
where the theater troupe is known as the Ivan Dixon Players.
In 1957 he appeared on
Broadway in the
William Saroyan play
Cave Dwellers. In 1959, he co-starred in
Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking drama
Raisin in the Sun, the first produced Broadway play by an
African-American woman.
Dixon went on to television roles on
The Twilight Zone and other series. In
1964 he starred in the independent film
Nothing But a Man, written and directed by
Michael Roemer.
Hogan's Heroes
In his best-known role, Dixon co-starred as
POW Staff Sergeant Ivan Kinchloe in the ensemble of the hit
television program Hogan's Heroes. "Kinch" was the communications specialist; he was frequently ordered by Colonel Hogan (portrayed by
Bob Crane) to encode a message and send it to Allied Headquarters in
London, a
submarine, or to the German underground. Dixon played Kinchloe from
1965 to
1970, making him the only original actor on
Hogan's Heroes not to remain for the entire series.
Hogan's Heroes ended in
1971, by which time
Kenneth Washington had succeeded Dixon.
Film work and directing
From 1970 to 1993, Dixon primarily worked 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. As well, he directed the controversial 1973 feature film
The Spook Who Sat by the Door based on a novel by
Sam Greenlee, about the first black
CIA agent, who takes his espionage knowledge and uses it to lead a black guerrilla operation in
Chicago, Illinois.
The New York Times wrote in 2008,
Occasionally returning to acting, he played a doctor and leader of a
guerrilla movement in the controversial
1987 ABC miniseries Amerika, set in post-Soviet invasion Nebraska.
Later life and career
After his career as an actor and director, Dixon was the owner-operator of radio station
KONI (FM) in
Maui. In 2001 he left the islands for health reasons and sold the radio station in 2002.
Ivan Dixon died at Presbyterian Hospital in
Charlotte, North Carolina after a
hemorrhage and complications from
kidney failure, according to his daughter, Doris Nomathande Dixon of Charlotte. He was also survived by a son, Alan Kimara Dixon, and by his wife of 58 years, the former Berlie Ray.
Two sons, Ivan Nathaniel Dixon IV and N'Gai Christopher Dixon, died previously.
Filmography
Filmography and TV credits:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ivan Dixon'.
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