Godfrey Cambridge
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Godfrey MacArthur Cambridge (February 26, 1933 - November 29, 1976) was an American comedian and actor, who was especially popular in the late 1960s and early 1970's as a regular guest on The Merv Griffin Show and other talk shows. He had originally received a scholarship to study medicine but opted for an acting career instead.
Memorable film roles include Watermelon Man, where he plays the lead character, a white bigot who one day wakes up and discovers his skin color has turned to black, and The President's Analyst, where he plays a depressed CIA agent. He also had a starring role in the 1970 Ossie Davis adaptation of the Chester Himes novel Cotton Comes to Harlem of the same name. He perhaps reached his largest audience in a series of comical television commercials for Jockey brand underwear.
Cambridge is also remembered for his starring role in Beware! The Blob, a sequel to the The Blob, as well as appearances on several syndicated television programs, including Car 54 Where Are You ("The Curse of the Snitkins"), The Dick Van Dyke Show ("The Man From My Uncle"), and I Spy ("Court of the Lion").
Cambridge had a number of starring theatrical roles, both on and off Broadway, including his Broadway debut in Nature's Way (1951). He later appeared in The Blacks, in a performance that earned him an Obie award in 1961. He also did a stock version of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum some four years later.
Cambridge was also well-known as a standup comedian who appeared on The Tonight Show and other shows. His routine was imbued with biting sarcasm and trenchant topical humor that was common in comedic circles at the time.
Cambridge died of a heart attack while on the set of the movie Victory at Entebbe, in which he was to portray Idi Amin. Amin claimed Cambridge's death was "punishment from God." It is possible that the frequently overweight Cambridge's habit of yo-yo dieting contributed to his early demise, as his death was preceded by a rapid weight loss.
