![ron o neal on the equalizer ron o neal on the equalizer](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wR_i3yEfRKM/maxresdefault.jpg)
Better still, as scholars and film fans rediscovered his performance in Superfly, O'Neal gathered some movie work again. His fortunes did brighten in the mid-'80s with television, earning semi-regular roles in two of the more popular shows of the day: The Equalizer (1985-89) and A Different World (1987-93).
![ron o neal on the equalizer ron o neal on the equalizer](https://lthumb.lisimg.com/791/4668791.jpg)
Sadly, O'Neal's fame (as well as the blaxsploitation genre itself), would inevitably fade, and by the decade's end, O'Neal would be co-starring in such B-films as When a Stranger Calls, and the Chuck Norris actioner A Force of One (both 1979).
![ron o neal on the equalizer ron o neal on the equalizer](https://img.sharetv.com/shows/standard/the_equalizer.jpg)
Unfortunately, his lack of experience showed as the poorly directed film lacked its predecessor's wit and pace, and proved a resounding commercial flop. O'Neal would try his hand at directing when he took on the sequel Superfly T.N.T. The film was a box-office smash, and O'Neal, looking slick and ultra-stylish in his big fedora hat, leather boots, flowing scarf, and floor length trench coat, became a pop culture icon of the "blaxsploitation" genre overnight. The producers of Superfly saw him in that production and cast him in the film's lead role of "Youngblood Priest". He came to critical notice in the off-Broadway production of Charles Gordone's Pulitzer Prize-winning No Place to be Somebody where he earned an Obie Award (the off-Broadway Tony) for his work. During his nine-year stint with the playhouse, he had roles in such varied productions as A Raisin in the Sun, A Streetcar Named Desire and Kiss Me Kate.Īfter moving to New York City in the mid-'60s, he taught acting classes in Harlem and performed in summer stock. After graduating high school in 1955, he joined the city's widely acclaimed Karamu House, an experimental interracial theatrical troupe. O'Neal was born on Septemin Utica, New York, but he grew up in Cleveland. Ron O'Neal, the handsome, athletic black actor who shot to fame in the '70s for his role as the Harlem drug dealer "Youngblood Priest" in the cult flick, Superfly (1972), died of cancer in Los Angeles on January 14th.