LOS ANGELES -- Actor Moses Gunn, whose roles ranged from Shakespeare plays to situation comedies, has died from complications of asthma, his agent said Monday. He was 64.
Richard Bauman said Gunn had been ill for about six months before he died Friday at his Guilford, Conn., home.
Gunn won two Obie Awards for his stage roles with the Negro Ensemble Company andNAACP Image Awards for the Los Angeles Theater Center production of 'Fool for Love' and his supporting role in the 1980 film 'Ragtime.'
He also received a 1976 Tony nomination for 'The Poison Tree' and an Emmy nomination as the African chief Kintango in the landmark miniseries 'Roots.'
Gunn played Moses Gage in the shortlived series 'Father Murphy,' and played guest roles on such shows as 'The Cosby Show,' 'Hill Street Blues,' 'Amen' and 'Equal Justice.'
He was born in St. Louis on Oct. 2, 1929, and earned degrees from Tennessee State University and University of Kansas, Lawrence.
In nearly 30 years on the professional stage, Gunn appeared in more than a dozen productions of Shakespeare plays, including 'Romeo and Juliet' at New York Shakespeare Festival.
Gunn is survived by his wife, Gwendolyn, daughter Kirsten Landes Mudd and son Justin Moses Gunn.NEWLN: ------
In lieu of flowers his family asked that contributions be made to Amistad Foundation, Wadsworth Atheneum, 600 Main St., Hartford, Conn., 06118, attention Barbara Hudson.
