Acting
Otis Young
Otis E. Young (July 4, 1932 – October 11, 2001) was a notable African-American actor whose career spanned several decades. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Young made significant strides in television and film, becoming the second African-American actor to co-star in a Western series, The Outcasts (1968-1969), alongside Don Murray. The first was Raymond St. Jacques, who appeared in the final season of Rawhide in 1965. Young's film career included a memorable role as Jack Nicholson's shore patrol partner in the 1973 comedy-drama The Last Detail.
Growing up as one of 14 siblings, Young enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at 17 and served during the Korean War. After his military service, he pursued acting at New York University School of Education, where he studied alongside future Oscar-winner Louis Gossett, Jr. He enhanced his craft at the Neighborhood Playhouse and began performing off-Broadway in the early 1960s, including a turn in James Baldwin's "Blues for Mr. Charlie."
Young's film debut came in Murder in Mississippi (1965). In 1983, he graduated from L.I.F.E. Bible College in Los Angeles and became an ordained pastor, later serving as senior pastor at Elim Foursquare Gospel Church in Rochester, New York. Young taught acting at the innovative School Without Walls from 1987 to 1991, before joining Monroe Community College as a Professor of Communications and head of the Drama Department until his retirement in 1999. He passed away in 2001 after suffering a stroke and is survived by his second wife, Barbara, and four children.
