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Cleavon Jake Little was an American stage, film, and television actor. He began his career in the late 1960s on the stage. In 1970, he starred in the Broadway production of Purlie, for which he earned both a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award. His first leading television role was that of the irreverent Dr. Jerry Noland on the ABC sitcom Temperatures Rising (1972–1974). While starring in the sitcom, Little appeared in what has become his signature performance, portraying Sheriff Bart in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy film Blazing Saddles.
Birth Name
Cleavon Jake Little
Born
Thursday, 01 June 1939
Died
Thursday, 22 October 1992
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | Bart | 2015 |
| Mel Brooks: Make a Noise | Self (archive footage) | 2013 |
| These Amazing Shadows | Bart (clip from Blazing Saddles (1974)) | 2011 |
| How the West Was Lost | Bart | 2008 |
| Role Model: Gene Wilder | Bart | 2008 |
| Back in the Saddle | Bart / Self (archive footage) | 2001 |
| In the Nick of Time | Freddy | 1991 |
| Separate But Equal | Robert L. 'Bob' Carter | 1991 |
| True Colors | Ron Freeman | 1990 |
| Bagdad Cafe | Sal | 1990 |
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | Bart | 2015 |
| Mel Brooks: Make a Noise | Self (archive footage) | 2013 |
| These Amazing Shadows | Bart (clip from Blazing Saddles (1974)) | 2011 |
| How the West Was Lost | Bart | 2008 |
| Role Model: Gene Wilder | Bart | 2008 |
| Back in the Saddle | Bart / Self (archive footage) | 2001 |
| In the Nick of Time | Freddy | 1991 |
| Separate But Equal | Robert L. 'Bob' Carter | 1991 |
| True Colors | Ron Freeman | 1990 |
| Bagdad Cafe | Sal | 1990 |
| Tales from the Crypt | Pack Brightman | 1989 |
| Fletch Lives | Calculus Entropy / Calculus | 1989 |
| Midnight Caller | Reverend James Allen | 1988 |
| Dear John | Tony Larkin | 1988 |
| Lincoln | Frederick Douglass | 1988 |
| Tanner '88 | Reverend Billy Crier | 1988 |
| CBS Summer Playhouse | 'Bake' Baker | 1987 |
| Biography | Self | 1987 |
| ALF | George Foley | 1986 |
| Nightlife | Self | 1986 |
| The 40th Annual Tony Awards | Self - Performer | 1986 |
| The Gig | 1985 | |
| Once Bitten | Sebastian | 1985 |
| MacGyver | Frank Colton | 1985 |
| 227 | Abner Neff | 1985 |
| Toy Soldiers | Buck | 1984 |
| E. Nick: A Legend in His Own Mind | Edmundo | 1984 |
| Surf II | Daddy O | 1983 |
| Jimmy the Kid | Herb | 1982 |
| Double Exposure | Police Chief | 1982 |
| A House Divided: Denmark Vessey's Rebellion | 1982 | |
| One of the Boys | Jimmy | 1982 |
| Simon & Simon | Bookkeeper Jared Swope | 1981 |
| The Fall Guy | Max Downey | 1981 |
| The Salamander | Major Carl Malinowski, USMC | 1981 |
| High Risk | Rockney | 1981 |
| The Sky Is Gray | Monsieur Bayonne | 1980 |
| Scavenger Hunt | Jackson | 1979 |
| Supertrain | Preacher Ross | 1979 |
| FM | Prince / Prince of Darkness | 1978 |
| Once Upon a Brothers Grimm | Wolf / Wolf (segment "Little Red Riding Hood") | 1977 |
| Greased Lightning | Peewee | 1977 |
| The Love Boat | Andrew Hopkins | 1977 |
| Fantasy Island | Charlie Raines | 1977 |
| The Tony Randall Show | Willie Alexander | 1976 |
| Dinah! | Self - Guest | 1974 |
| The Day the Earth Moved | Harley Copeland | 1974 |
| The Rockford Files | Billy Merrihew | 1974 |
| Blazing Saddles | Bart | 1974 |
| Money to Burn | Calvin Baker | 1973 |
| Police Story | Marshall Priest | 1973 |
| ABC Afterschool Specials | Community Leader | 1972 |
| The Waltons | James Trevis Clark | 1972 |
| The New Temperatures Rising Show | Dr. Jerry Noland / Jerry Noland | 1972 |
| The Rookies | Cully Ames | 1972 |
| The Homecoming: A Christmas Story | Hawthorne Dooley | 1971 |
| Vanishing Point | Super Soul | 1971 |
| All in the Family | Coke | 1971 |
| Cotton Comes to Harlem | Lo Boy | 1970 |
| John and Mary | The Film Director | 1969 |
| The David Frost Show | Self - Guest | 1969 |
| Mod Squad | Bolo | 1968 |
| What's So Bad About Feeling Good? | Phil | 1968 |
| The Felony Squad | Jesse Hawkins | 1966 |
| The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Himself - Guest | 1962 |
| The Mike Douglas Show | Himself - Comedian | 1961 |
| Year | Type | Category | Won |
|---|
| 1989 | Emmy | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | Won |
