April 4, 2014

Lawrence Oliver Hamilton, a Broadway star who appeared in such shows as Porgy and Bess, The Wiz, and Jelly’s Last Jam, died at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City due to complications from surgery. Hamilton was born in Ashdown (Little River County) and grew up in Foreman (Little River County), where he attended public schools and took piano lessons from a woman who had been a friend of ragtime composer Scott Joplin. He went on to study music education a Henderson State University in Arkadelphia (Clark County) before moving to Florida to perform at Disney World. Hamilton debuted on Broadway in 1979 in Timbuktu.