Kene Holliday

Kenneth Earl "Kene" Holliday (born June 25, 1949) is an American actor of stage, film, and television. He is known for his role as Ben Matlock's original private investigator, Tyler Hudson on Matlock and as Sgt. Curtis Baker on Carter Country from 1977 until 1979.

Kene Holliday
Holliday as Curtis Baker in Carter Country in 1977
Born
Kenneth Earl Holliday

(1949-06-25) June 25, 1949
Copiague, Suffolk County, New York, U.S.
Other namesKene Holiday
OccupationActor
Years active1971–present
Spouse(s)Janifer Baker Holloway
Linda Copling
Children2

Biography

Holliday, a product of the Copiague area of Long Island, New York was raised in a Christian home, born into a Baptist family. At age 12 he lost his father. With the encouragement of his mother he participated in track at Copiague High School where he was part of the Fantastic Four Relay Team and was the star of his football team. He was nicknamed as Mr. Hotshot and was known as a "scoring machine" on the football field. He graduated in 1967 and attended University of Maryland on a full scholarship. As he recalled, times were turbulent and the football team was preparing to go on strike against the NCAA over a change in coaches.

He was "jazzed" by a class he took related to the history of theater and acting became his new passion. In 1969, as an undergraduate he played Yank in The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill. He was the first black person to perform in a leading role on the college's "main stage."

After graduation from college his first work was with the Inaugural Theater Group at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. There, he conducted workshops as a founding member of the D.C. Black Repertory Company. In 1975, he was fired from his job because of his continued problems with drugs and alcohol. His chemical abuse continued for the next 14 years. However, despite those problems he starred in the role of Carlyle in David Rabe's Vietnam War-era play Streamers at the Lincoln Theatre.

That play led him to Los Angeles in 1976 where he guest-starred on several shows such as Kojak; What's Happening!!; The Incredible Hulk; Quincy, M.E.; Lou Grant; Soap and its spin-off series, Benson; The Jeffersons; The Fall Guy; Hart to Hart and Doogie Howser, M.D. He guest starred on many other shows. His first "featuring" television series was Carter Country where he co-starred with Victor French as Sgt. Curtis Baker from 1977 until 1979. He also was featured in Roots: The Next Generations and starred in a series of pilots which failed to make it to the air as regular series. Kene provided the voice of the character Roadblock in the 1980s cartoon series, G.I. Joe and 1987's G.I. Joe: The Movie. In 1985, he appeared in the TV film Badge of the Assassin.

In early 1986 while providing the voice of Roadblock, he received a phone call from producers Fred Silverman and Dean Hargrove. He was their first choice to play Matlock's private investigator Tyler Hudson on the Matlock series opposite TV veteran Andy Griffith. Holliday said in a 2012 interview with Blake Radio that when he was 11 years old he occasionally watched The Andy Griffith Show; he had recognized all the characters from his mentor's show and won the Matlock role.[1] He was eventually fired from the series due to ongoing concerns around his substance abuse.[2]

Other TV work and personal life

He has numerous television and movie appearances to his credit, including roles in G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987), CBS’s made-for-television movie Miracle On The Mountain (2000), Hope & Faith (2004), and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2005).

He published a book of poetry in 1998 entitled The Book of K-III: The Contemporary Poetics of Kene Holliday.

Holliday became a traveling evangelist, and he and his wife spent the next decade preaching in gospel musicals.

In 2002 Holliday became the round-the-clock caregiver for his mother,[3] who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and subsequently became a member of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.

While taking care of his mother, he accepted the lead role in the movie Great World of Sound in 2007.

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1976 Kojak Assistant D.A. Dunn Episode: "A Shield For Murder" (parts 1 and 2)
1977–79 Carter Country Sergeant Curtis Baker 44 episodes
1978 Incredible Hulk Paul Episode: "Earthquakes Happen"
1978 Battle of the Network Stars Himself Episode: "Battle of the Network Stars IV"
1978 What's Happening!!' The Gong Show judge #1 Episode: "Going, Going, Going"
1979 Quincy M.E. Father Tony Hamilton Episode: "Never a Child"
1979 Roots: The Next Generations Detroit Miniseries
Part III
1980 Soap Eddie Dawson Episode 60
1980 Benson Jake Episode: "Takin' It to the Streets"
1981 See China and Die Sgt. Alvin Sykes Television film
1982 Hart To Hart William Dean Episode: "Hart and Sole" as William Dean
1982 Chicago Story Dr. Jeff House
1984 The Philadelphia Experiment Major Clark
1984 No Small Affair Walt Cronin
1985 Badge of the Assassin Albert Washington Television film
1985–86 G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Roadblock (voice) 36 episodes
1986 Diary Of A Perfect Murder Tyler Hudson Television film
1986 The Fall Guy Lt. Joe Budd Episode: "In His Shadow"
1986–90 Matlock Tyler Hudson seasons 1–3; appeared in episode 4 & 14 in season 4
1987 G.I. Joe: The Movie Roadblock (voice)
1987 If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium Bon Sperling Television film
1990 Perry Mason: Case of the Silenced Singer Joe Dillon
1991 The Josephine Baker Story Sidney Bechet Television film
1991 Doogie Howser, M.D. Raymond's Old Mentor Episode: "Truth and Consequences"
1992 Jake and The Fatman Montgomery Dubois Episode: "Ain't Misbehavin'"
1996: Diagnosis Murder Burke's Producer Episode: "FMurder"
2005 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Coach Veneziano Episode: "Ripped"
2007 Great World of Sound Clarence
2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Cold Case Detective Episode: "Last Rites"
2009 Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Theodore the Saxophone Player Videogame

Accolades
gollark: It can add somewhat larger numbers!
gollark: https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/10/the-obligatory-gpt-3-post/
gollark: Apparently there's a GPT-3 now, and it's basically just a bigger GPT-2 which is somewhat more effective.
gollark: A supervolcano eruption would be *so* 2020.
gollark: Generally you also have special-purpose libraries for various tasks as well as big frameworks for doing a lot of things.

References
  1. "Topically Yours - Actor Kene Holliday". BlogTalkRadio.com. August 4, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/02peopleli.html?_r=0
  3. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/02peopleli.html?_r=0
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