Howard Rollins

Howard Rollins Jr.
Rollins in Ragtime, 1981.
Born
Howard Ellsworth Rollins Jr.

(1950-10-17)October 17, 1950
DiedDecember 8, 1996(1996-12-08) (aged 46)
Resting placeWoodlawn Cemetery
(Baltimore, Maryland)
Alma materNorthern High School
Towson State University
OccupationActor
Years active1970–1996
Known forVirgil TibbsIn the Heat of the Night

Howard Ellsworth Rollins Jr. (October 17, 1950 – December 8, 1996) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was best known for his role as Andrew Young in 1978's King, George Haley in the 1979 miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, Coalhouse Walker Jr. in the 1981 film Ragtime, Captain Davenport in the 1984 film A Soldier's Story, and as Virgil Tibbs on the NBC/CBS television crime drama In the Heat of the Night (1988–1994).

Over the span of his acting career, Rollins was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and an Emmy.