Cleavon Jake Little (June 1, 1939 – October 22, 1992) was an American film and theatre actor, best known for his lead role as Bart in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles and as the irreverent Dr. Jerry Noland in the early 1970s situation-comedy television series program Temperatures Rising. In 1978 he played "The Prince of Darkness" in the radio station comedy FM. He was also in the 1984 action film Toy Soldiers and acted out the role of Super Soul in the film Vanishing Point in 1971.
Little was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma. He grew up in California and attended college at San Diego State University. After receiving a full scholarship to Juilliard he moved to New York and trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Art.
Little started off with small, and uncredited parts, he had small roles in films such as What's So Bad About Feeling Good, John and Mary and Cotton Comes to Harlem. In 1971 he was chosen to portray Super Soul in the movie Vanishing Point, after a few more films and guest appearances Little was cast to portray Sheriff Bart in the 1974 comedy film Blazing Saddles, beating Richard Pryor, who co-wrote the script intending to play the role himself. Studio execs were apparently nervous over Pryor's reputation as a racy comedian and thought Little would be a safer choice. This role earned him a BAFTA Award nomination as Most Promising Newcomer. Little made his off-Broadway debut in the 1968 political satire MacBird!, 1970 he won a Tony award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for his work in the Broadway musical Purlie. A year later Little was hired as an ensemble player on the syndicated TV variety weekly The David Frost Revue.
After Blazing Saddles, Little appeared in a large amount of, unfortunately, less successful films, such as FM, High Risk, Jimmy the Kid and Toy Soldiers. Little also made guest appearances on The Mod Squad, The Rookies, Police Story, The Rockford Files, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, ABC Afterschool Specials, The Fall Guy and ALF. In 1989 he appeared in an episode of Dear John and won the Outstanding Guest Actor Emmy, defeating Robert Picardo, Jack Gilford, Leslie Nielsen and Sammy Davis, Jr. Little also had a part in Fletch Lives, the least successful sequel to 1985's Fletch. Little was slated to star in the TV series Mr. Dugan, where he was to play a black congressman, but that series was poorly received by real black congressmen and was canceled before making it to air. He replaced Frankie Faison as Ronald Freeman, a Black dentist married to Ellen Freeman, a white housewife on the short-lived FOX sitcom True Colors. His last appearance overall was a guest part on an episode of Tales from the Crypt, before he died in Sherman Oaks, California of colon cancer in 1992.
