Geoffrey Holder, a Tony Award-winning director, actor, painter and choreographer who during an eclectic show business career led the groundbreaking show The Wiz to Broadway, pitched 7UP on TV and played a scary villain in the James Bond film Live and Let Die, has died. He was 84.

Producer and family friend Anna Glass said Holder died of complications from pneumonia at Mount Sinai St Luke’ s Hospital in New York.

The 6ft 6in, Trinidad-born Holder won Tonys in 1975 for directing and designing the costumes for an all-black retelling of The Wizard of Oz.

In 1978, he directed and choreographed the Broadway musical Timbuktu! and earned another Tony nomination for best costume.

He is survived by his wife, dancer Carmen de Lavallade, and their son, Leo.

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