Howard Ellsworth Rollins Jr

 Howard Ellsworth Rollins Jr. (October 17, 1950 – December 8, 1996)

Howard Rollins 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 TV crime drama In the Heat of the Night. During the run of Heat of the Night, Rollins struggled with an addiction to drugs and alcohol. He was arrested four times for drug- and alcohol-related crimes and spent one month in jail for reckless driving and driving under the influence. Due to his ongoing personal and legal issues, Rollins was let go from the series at the end of Season 6. Rollins, however, would return for several guest appearances throughout the seventh season of the show in 1993-1994. In 1995, he appeared in a guest role on New York Undercover, followed by a role in the theatrical film, Drunks. In 1996, he appeared in a guest role on Remember WENN. His final acting role was in the 1996 PBS television movie Harambee!. On December 8, 1996, Rollins died at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City of complications from AIDS-related lymphoma. He had been diagnosed with the disease approximately six weeks earlier. Rollins is interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.