D'Urville Martin

D'Urville Martin (February 11, 1939 – May 28, 1984) was an American actor in both film and television. He appeared in numerous 1970s movies in the blaxploitation genre. He also appeared in two unaired pilots of what would become All in the Family as Lionel Jefferson. Born in New York City, Martin began his career in the mid-1960s and soon appeared in prominent films such as Black Like Me, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and Rosemary's Baby. Martin also directed films in his career, including Dolemite, starring Rudy Ray Moore. Personal life D'Urville Martin was born in New York City in 1939. He had a daughter, Debra, with his first wife, Frances L. Johnson. After their divorce, he married Lillian Ferguson in 1966 and had two more children. Martin died of a heart attack in Los Angeles in 1984 at the age of 45. Career Martin's first film role was as a speaking-line extra in Black Like Me (1964). He then had small roles in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) (as Frankie, whose car is accidentally struck by Spencer Tracy's character Matt Drayton) and Rosemary's Baby (1968) (as Diego, the elevator operator). Later movies of D'Urville Martin are of the blaxploitation genre, starting with The Legend of Nigger Charley in 1972 and continuing throughout the decade until he appeared in The Bear in 1983. In The Legend of Nigger Charley, Martin played Toby, a fellow fugitive of the title character. He reprised his role in the film's two sequels: The Soul of Nigger Charley (1973) and Boss Nigger (1975).