Sometimes events in the universe happen in the oddest ways. Art Evans, a long-time veteran character actor, passed away on Dec. 21, the first day of winter and just four days away from Christmas.
It was in Die Hard 2 where Evans portrayed one of his most memorable roles as a Leslie Barnes, the chief engineer for the Washington Dulles International Airport. Along with Bruce Willis’ Det. Lt. John McClane, he helps fight military commandos who have overtaken control of the airport as they intend to Gen. Ramon Esperanza with them before he can be turned over to the Justice Department. The whole plot disregards any logic as a political/military prisoner wouldn’t land at a major commercial airport.
But he survives nearly being shot by one of the commandos played by a pre-Terminator 2 Robert Patrick and ends up using the outer marker beacon to alert the passengers of the danger at the airport. But most planes would’ve already been diverted to other airports upon knowing this. But here, a plane from England manages to burst into a huge fireball even though it’s low on fuel.
Starting out on stage in the 1960s, he transition to TV and movies in the 1970s often appearing in small roles. He appeared in John Carpenter’s adaptation of Christine where he is killed for accidentally dropping cigar ash on the upholstery.
But in 1984, he starred in what would be his first memorable role as Pvt. James Wilkie in A Soldier’s Story. Co-starring with Howard E. Rollins Jr., Denzel Washington, Adolph Caesar and David Alan Grier, he played a soldier who had been demoted from sergeant to private for drinking on the job. He is constantly criticized by MSG. Vernon Waters (Caesar) who views him as a bad example and uses his tyrannical ways for Wilkie to plant a gun to frame a simple-minded private C.J. Memphis (Larry Riley) who Waters despises for his Gullah language mentality.
The role brought him some clout as he was later cast as a detective in the horror classic Fright Night in 1985 and then co-starring alongside Danny DeVito and Bette Middler in the kidnapping comedy classic Ruthless People. He worked with Spike Lee in School Daze and then appeared in the underrated The Mighty Quinn with Washington, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Robert Townsend.
In the 1990s, he played the no-nonsense father to Chris Rock’s character in the rap comedy CB4 and had a memorable role as a harbinger of horror in Tales from the Hood. In 1997, he appeared alongside Eddie Murphy in Metro as the friend/mentor who gets killed by the villain. He also appeared in the notorious Mr. Payback: An Interactive Movie which was written and directed by Bob Gale which had options where people could choose what happens as a killer cyborg (David Warlock) punishes rude people. It got bad reviews with Siskel & Ebert declaring it one of the worst movies of 1995.
According to imdb.com, he had over 120 acting credits and appeared on shows like Everybody Hates Chris, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, The X-Files, M*A*S*H and A Different World to name a few. Reports indicate Evans passed away due to complications from diabetes. He was 82.
What is your favorite role or movie of his? Please comment.
Zane Says 