Robert Guillaume (1927-2017) was an American actor and singer. He played Benson DuBois in the ABC television series Soap and its spin-off, Benson. He also voiced the mandrill Rafiki in The Lion King, and played Isaac Jaffe in Aaron Sorkin's dramedy Sports Night. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Guillaume worked extensively on stage, television and film. For his efforts, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, and twice won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of the character Benson DuBois, once in 1979 on Soap and again in 1985 on Benson. He also won a Grammy Award in 1995 for his spoken-word performance of an audiobook version of The Lion King. Guillaume was the first African-American actor to portray the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. After college, Guillaume joined the Karamu Players in Cleveland and performed in musical comedies and opera. He toured the world in 1959 as a cast member of the Broadway musical Free and Easy.[5] He made his Broadway debut in Kwamina in 1961. His other stage appearances included Golden Boy (with Sammy Davis Jr.), Tambourines to Glory, Guys and Dolls, for which he received a Tony Award nomination, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and Purlie. His additional roles included Katherine Dunham's Bambouche and in Fly The Blackbird. In 1990, Guillaume was cast in the Los Angeles production of The Phantom of the Opera, replacing Michael Crawford in the title role. Guillaume was the first Black actor to portray the character. Guillaume died of prostate cancer on October 24, 2017, at his home in Los Angeles, California, aged 89. His body was cremated and i read ashes given to his loved ones, and later placed at Inglewood Park Cemetery - @famouslygraving