Meshach Taylor

About Meshach Taylor

Who is it?: Actor, Soundtrack
Birth Day: April 11, 1947
Birth Place:  Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died On: June 28, 2014(2014-06-28) (aged 67)\nAltadena, California
Birth Sign: Taurus
Cause of death: Colorectal cancer
Resting place: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
Alma mater: Florida A&M University
Occupation: Actor
Years active: 1977–2014
Spouse(s): Bianca Ferguson Taylor (m. 1983; his death 2014)
Children: 4

Meshach Taylor Net Worth

Meshach Taylor was born on April 11, 1947 in  Boston, Massachusetts, United States, is Actor, Soundtrack. Surrounded by four dazzling Southern-styled ladies on the hit sitcom Designing Women (1986), genial African-American actor Meshach Taylor made a name for himself as the beleaguered male foil consistently at the mercy of the title gals' antics during its popular 7-season run.The Boston-born actor who entered life on April 11, 1947, was raised in New Orleans and Indianapolis (Crispus Attucks High School) and took an early interest in acting back in high school. He first studied drama at Ohio's Wilmington College before transferring to Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Florida.Gaining experience back at an Indianapolis radio station as a State House political correspondent and in repertory theater. His first professional break came in with a national tour of the musical "Hair." He eventually became a member of both Chicago's Goodman Theatre and the Organic Theatre group. One of his stage performances, "Sizwe Banzi Is Dead," earned him Chicago theater's Joseph Jefferson Award. Taylor transported himself to Los Angeles in the 78 and found minor work in a few of the popular horror films of the day: Damien: Omen II (1978), The Howling (1981) and The Beast Within (1982), and also started to make the typical rounds on popular TV shows including "Barney Miller," "Lou Grant" and "M*A*S*H."After a regular part on the promising, but short-lived Buffalo Bill (1983), he nabbed the Emmy-nominated role of Anthony Bouvier, the jailbird-turned-assistant to Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart and Dixie Carter. Originally a guest part at the beginning, he proved popular with audiences and the show progressed his character and was eventually made a full partner of the ladies' designer firm.Following this success, Taylor moved straight into four seasons with the sitcom Dave's World (1993) as a poker-playing buddy/neighbor to Harry Anderson. His film and TV load has been fairly lightweight overall with routine turns in such comedy fare as Mannequin (1987) and Class Act (1992), an Olsen twins mini-movie, and as a regular panelist on a revamped version of To Tell the Truth (2000). One of his brighter moments (literally) was playing the role of Lumiere in Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast."His later career was comprised of lowbudget comedy films such as Jacks or Better (2000), Friends and Family (2001), Club Fiji (2008), as well as horror/drama including Tranced (2010), Wigger (2010) and Hyenas (2011). He was occasionally seen as a guest on the small screen in such shows as "The Drew Carey Show," "Hannah Montana," "Jessie" and, his last, "Criminal Minds," as well as a regular role in the series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (2004), which lasted three seasons.After his 11-year marriage to Sandra Taylor ended in 1980, Meshach married actress Bianca Ferguson ("General Hospital") in 1983 and had three children. He had one child from his first marriage. In addition to daughters Tamar, Yasmine and Esme and son Tariq, he has a sister, Judith, and brother, Hussain, a private investigator in the Los Angeles area, as well as four grandchildren. His father, Joseph, was a Dean at Indiana University and his mother, Hertha, a school teacher in Indianapolis, Indiana. Taylor died at age 67 of colorectal cancer on June 28 2014, in the Los Angeles area (Altadena). Terminally ill and extremely weak, he nevertheless flew with his children to Indiana just one week before his death to celebrate the centennial birthday of his mother. He was interred at Forest Lawn in Glendale, CA.
Meshach Taylor is a member of Actor

💰Meshach Taylor Net worth: $1.3 Million

Some Meshach Taylor images

Biography/Timeline

1964

After the family moved from New Orleans to Indianapolis, Taylor graduated from Crispus Attucks High School in 1964, where he took an interest in acting, and went on to study in the dramatic arts programs at Wilmington College (Ohio) and Florida A&M University. Leaving Florida A&M a few credits shy of graduation, he worked in Indianapolis as a State House reporter for AM radio station WIFE (now WTLC), where he used the on-air name Bruce Thomas, and as the host of a community-affairs program on television station WLWI (now WTHR), as Bruce Taylor. Many years later, in May 1993, he received his bachelor's degree in theatre arts from Florida A&M.

1977

In 1977, Taylor moved to Los Angeles, where he crafted a gallery of memorable characters in film and on television, including his Emmy nominated turn in the CBS sitcom Designing Women, co-starring beside series stars Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart, Alice Ghostley, Jan Hooks, Julia Duffy and Judith Ivey. Taylor played Anthony Bouvier, the assistant at the fictitious Sugarbaker interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1989, he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

1981

In May 1981, the ninth season of M*A*S*H, he was seen as a corpsman in the final episode, "The Life You Save". From 1993-97, he was a series regular as plastic surgeon Sheldon Baylor on Dave's World (CBS), and had a recurring role as Alastair Wright, the history Teacher turned school principal, on Nickelodeon's sitcom, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (2004–07) and Buffalo Bill (NBC) with Dabney Coleman.

1983

Taylor married Actress Bianca Ferguson in 1983. They had four children, daughters Tamar Taylor, Esme Taylor, Yasmine Taylor, and son Tariq Taylor, and four grandchildren.

1996

In 1996, Taylor hosted his own series on HGTV, The Urban Gardener with Meshach Taylor, and in 1998, he hosted Meshach Taylor's Hidden Caribbean on The Travel Channel. He was a regular panelist on the 2000 revival of the television game show To Tell the Truth. He co-hosted Living Live! with Florence Henderson on Retirement Living TV; in 2008, the program was revamped as The Florence Henderson Show.

2013

Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Hertha Mae (née Ward) and Joseph T. Taylor, former dean of students at Dillard University in New Orleans, who was also the first dean of arts and sciences at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis.

2014

Suffering from colorectal cancer, Taylor died on June 28, 2014, at his home in Altadena, California. Taylor was survived by his wife Bianca Ferguson Taylor, their four children, his mother Hertha Ward Taylor (who celebrated her 100th birthday 11 days before Meshach died), his sister Judith Taylor, his brother Hussain Taylor and four grandchildren. A memorial Service to celebrate his life was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) on July 6, 2014.

2019

Other appearances include: The Unit (CBS), Jessie (Disney Channel), Hannah Montana (Disney Channel) as a fashion designer, All of Us as Neesee's father, The Drew Carey Show (ABC), Static Shock (Kids WB!), Caroline in the City (NBC), Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (Nickelodeon), Women of the House (CBS), In the Heat of the Night (NBC), Punky Brewster (NBC), What’s Happening Now!, Hill Street Blues (NBC), ALF (NBC), Melba (CBS), The Golden Girls (NBC), Cagney & Lacey (CBS), Barney Miller (ABC), Lou Grant (CBS), The White Shadow (CBS), The Incredible Hulk (CBS), and Barnaby Jones (CBS).