Ronald James Taylor (October 16, 1952 – January 16, 2002) was an American actor, singer and writer. He grew up in Galveston, Texas, and later moved to New York City to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After graduating, Taylor began working in musical theater, appearing in The Wiz (1977), before getting his break with the 1982 off-Broadway production Little Shop of Horrors. Taylor voiced the killer plant Audrey II in the show, which ran for five years and over 2,000 performances.

Taylor created and starred in the musical revue It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, which charted the history of blues music from its African origin to American success. Originally performed at high schools in Denver as a 45-minute piece, the revue was expanded to two hours, played around the country and opened on Broadway in 1999. It was met with critical acclaim, ran for eight months, and saw Taylor receive two Tony Award nominations.

He also had numerous television roles, appearing in Family Matters, The Simpsons, Twin Peaks, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Ally McBeal, Matlock and L.A. Law. His performance in the latter, as a singer who performed the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner" at baseball games, led him to perform the anthem at several real-life sporting events. Taylor was married and had one son. He died in January 2002 after suffering a heart attack.

Early life

Taylor was born on October 16, 1952, in Galveston, Texas to Marian and Robert "Bruno" Taylor and had two sisters, Roberta and Frances. He attended O'Connell High School, and Wharton County Junior College, where he was a football player, and a participant in the school choir and theater. The choir teacher suggested he join after overhearing him singing The Temptations. intending to become a singer. Audrey II was played by four increasingly large puppets, operated by Martin P. Robinson, while Taylor sat in a box at the back of the stage to voice the role, standing to perform his musical numbers.

In the 1984 Broadway production of The Three Musketeers at The Broadway Theatre, Taylor played Porthos, one of the three title characters. Frank Rich wrote that the musketeers were "professionally played" by Taylor and his co-stars Brent Spiner and Chuck Wagner but felt the three had "little dialogue and often seem like interchangeable stand-ins for the Three Stooges." A similar view was held by William B. Collins of the Philadelphia Inquirer who said they "speak as in one voice and behave like comedians who have been stranded without good material."

It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues

Taylor created and starred in the musical revue It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, which charted the history of blues music from its African origin to American success. He conceived the original idea for the show when he played blues musician Rufus Payne in a 1987 production of Lost Highway, a play about singer Hank Williams at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Denver, Colorado. He proposed the idea to director Randal Myler who eventually accepted it in 1994. Taylor co-wrote the revue with Myler, Lita Gaithers, Charles Bevel and Dan Wheetman, and also served as its associate producer. his numbers included "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", "The Thrill is Gone", "Blues Man" and "Let the Good Times Roll". It was initially performed as a 45-minute production at 25 local high schools. The cast's performance on the live Tony Awards show on CBS was bumped due to limited time, sparking controversy, costing the show potential revenue, and damaging its prospects for survival.

For the rest of the year, It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues again toured at regional theaters, running in Atlanta, San Diego, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and returning to New York in August 2000 at the B.B. King Blues Club and Grill for a month-long run. and nine years after his death, it was revived by the New Harlem Arts Theater at the Aaron Davis Hall on the City College of New York campus.

Film, television and music

Taylor had numerous television roles. He voiced jazz musician "Bleeding Gums" Murphy on The Simpsons, appearing in the first season episode "Moaning Lisa" (1990) and returning for the character's death in the season six episode 'Round Springfield" (1995). He was one of the first people to guest star on the show. Taylor was supposed to reprise his role in the season two episode "Dancin' Homer", but was in New York and unable to record his part. He appeared as a Klingon chef in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and played wrestling instructor Coach Wingate in Twin Peaks. Other television roles included guest spots on NYPD Blue, ER, Profiler, Family Matters, Home Improvement and Ally McBeal. Taylor also had a recurring part in the 2000 series City of Angels, He also sang for a Los Angeles Kings National Hockey League game, His funeral took place on January 28 at the New Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ.