Refined comedic actor Meshach Taylor was most well known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the CBS series Designing Women (1986-1993) and as the flamboyant Hollywood Montrose in the fantasy comedy features Mannequin and Mannequin 2: On the Move. He started his career by touring in national theater companies and appearing on the TV series Buffalo Bill with Dabney Coleman. He has been in several made-for-TV movies, including the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen title Double, Double, Toil and Trouble. Some of his feature films included the sci-fi adventure Explorers, the Susanna Hoffs vehicle The Allnighter, and the Kid 'N Play movie Class Act. In 1993, he joined the cast of Dave's World as Harry Anderson's neighbor, Sheldon. After hosting his very own series on HGTV, The Urban Gardener with Meshach Taylor, he appeared on Broadway as Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast. In addition to being a regular panelist on the game show To Tell the Truth, he also appeared in the feature film Friends and Family, a comedy about a literally gay mafia. He had a recurring role on the Nickelodeon sitcom Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, playing the school principal. Taylor had four children with his wife, veteran General Hospital actress Bianca Ferguson. He died in 2014, at age 67.
Meshach Taylor
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- Parents were both teachers; his father, Joseph Taylor, was named the first dean of School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University in 1972.
- Left Florida A&M University before he completed his degree and returned 20 years later to finish it.
- Worked as a radio reporter in Indianapolis after leaving college.
- First acting job was in a national tour of Hair.
- Worked with the Organic Theatre Company and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.