By NAN Staff Writer
AMERICA NEWS, NEW YORK, NY, married. October 12, 2022: Austin Stoker, the Caribbean-American actor, best known for his role as Virgil in the television miniseries “Roots” and as Lt. Ethan Bishop in John Carpenter’s 1976 film Assault on Precinct 13 has died. He was 92.
Stoker was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on October 7, 1930. He began his career on the stage, including the 1954 Broadway production of Truman Capote’s House of Flowers, where he met his future wife, Enid Mosier (acting name Vivian Bonnell).
Before his role as Lt. Bishop, Stoker appeared in several spoof films, often playing police detectives. Among these films were Abby (1974), Combat Cops (1974) and Sheba, Baby (1975), in which he played Pam Grier’s love interest. Some of Stoker’s other notable acting roles were in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), Horror High (1974), Airport 1975 (1974) and Victory at Entebbe (1976).
Stoker was also known to fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 for his role as Dr. Ken Melrose in the 1982 B-movie Time Walker, in which he appeared with his Assault on Precinct 13 co-star Darwin Joston.
Stoker died on Friday, October 7, on his 92nd birthday, his wife, Robin Stoker, confirmed. He reportedly died of kidney failure and was surrounded by his loved ones.
The late actor is survived by his wife of over 40 years, his daughter Tiffany, his son Origen and his two grandsons, Marcus and Austin.
