Clifton Oliver Dies: Broadway Actor Appeared In ‘The Lion King’ And ‘In The Heights’

Clifton Oliver, a stage actor who appeared on Broadway in The Lion King, In The Heights and Wicked, died yesterday following a lengthy illness.

His death was announced by family and friends on social media. Additional details were not immediately available.

“My baby brother, Clifton Oliver, has had his final curtain call,” wrote Roxy Hall of Jacksonville, Florida, on Facebook yesterday. “It was peaceful. His partner Richard was singing to him the song Psalm 23 as he took his last breath this morning at 3:20 AM.” Hall indicated that Oliver had been hospitalized, and then in hospice care, for six weeks.

A native of Jacksonville, Oliver attended Douglas Anderson School of the Arts there before relocating to New York to pursue an acting career. In 2010, he joined the Broadway replacement cast of In the Heights in the role of Benny (opposite Jordin Sparks), and would appear in replacement casts of Wicked (in the ensemble and as Fiyero) and The Lion King (Simba).

He also played Simba in the national Lion King tour, appearing in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas stagings of the enduring Disney musical.

Oliver also toured in Motown The Musical, portraying Motown founder Berry Gordy. Other regional and touring stage credits include Rent, Ragtime, Pal Joey, Kinky Boots and The Scottsboro Boys, among others.