Raymond St. Jacques

Raymond St. Jacques was an American actor, director and producer. He was the first Black American actor to appear in a regular role on a western series, playing Simon Blake on Rawhide. His best-known film roles were that of Coffin Ed in the blaxploitation classics Cotton Comes to Harlem and Come Back, Charleston Blue.

About Raymond St. Jacques in brief

Summary Raymond St. JacquesRaymond St. Jacques was an American actor, director and producer. He was the first Black American actor to appear in a regular role on a western series, playing Simon Blake on Rawhide. His best-known film roles were that of Coffin Ed in the blaxploitation classics Cotton Comes to Harlem and Come Back, Charleston Blue. St. Jacques was a lifelong bachelor. He had two older sons, Raymond, Jr and Sterling. Sterling went on to become a fashion model, dancer and society fixture in the late 1970s to the late 1980s. Sterling died of AIDS complications in 1984. In her 2016 memoir, The Walking Muses with Pat Muses, Pat Pat Pat stated that Sterling was appearing on a television show in Düsseldorf, Germany, where he was appearing as an Italo disco singer.

The adoption of Sterling and Raymond Jr, Jr. was reported to have come to an end because of Sterling’s gay lifestyle. Sterling was also known as a high-flier and a frequent New York City nightclub fixture. In 1988, he appeared in Edward Zwick’s Glory as abolitionist Frederick Douglass. His final film role was in the 1991 sci-fi film Timebomb released after his death.