Background
Hall was born on November 10, 1937 in Boothton, Alabama.
Hall was born on November 10, 1937 in Boothton, Alabama.
He graduated from the Columbia University School of the Arts.
Early work After portraying Pointer in, Hall made his film debut in the 1976 biopic, Leadbelly. He also played a co-pilot in the 1978 film, The Bermuda Triangle. Hall had a small role in the 1979 miniseries Roots: The Next Generations.
Apocalypse Now Hall gained mainstream attention for his role as Chief Phillips in Francis Ford Coppola"s 1979 war classic, Apocalypse Now, in which his character leads the rest of crew upriver from Vietnam to Cambodia so that Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) can complete his mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando).
Chief eventually gets killed by a Vietcong soldier who throws a spear that impales him. To prepare for the role, Hall did some research in attempt to convey an accurate portrayal of experiencing the Vietnam War first hand.
The actor has since then described his experience shooting the film in the Philippines as "exotic" and added that "it was all fun." According to Slate, some of Hall"s dialogue in Apocalypse Now Redux is semi-improvised. Hall"s performance in both versions has been praised by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Variety respectively.
Later work Hall appeared in the 1981 miniseries, The Sophisticated Gents.
In 1983, Hall had his first regular role in the short-lived series Ryan"s Four. Hall also appeared alongside Sidney Poitier in the 1991 television movie, Separate but Equal. He collaborated with Spike Lee, the director of the former film, again in.
Other films Hall appeared in during that decade include,, and
Coincidentally, he portrayed the role of a judge in soap operas such as The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives. Hall has portrayed real life figures such as Hank Aaron in 1998 television film, The Tiger Woods Story, and Elijah Muhammad in Michael Mann"s 2001 biopic, Ali.
Hall recently played the recurring role of Bruce in the series, Men of a Certain Age.
When Hall"s Separate but Equal (1991) co-star Jeffrey Wright told him that Apocalypse Now is his favorite film, he gave him a book in which he wrote inside, "Jeffrey, evolution is when a young actor comes up to you and says, "I"ve seen your work, you know, a hundred so times, and it has meaning to medical "".