Was very active in the civil rights movement. With Godfrey Cambridge, co-founded and headed the Committee for the Employment of Negro Performers in 1962.
In 1962 he co-founded the Committee for the Employment of Negro Performers with Godfrey Cambridge and Charles Gordone.
Survived by his wife Dr. Merlyn Purdy, their three daughters, Denise, Michele, Adriene, a daughter from a previous marriage Cheryl O'Connor, two sisters, Beryl Banks, and Dolores Hills, and three grandchildren, and two great-grand children.