Lester Rawlins

{{Short description|American actor (1924–1988)}}

{{more citations needed|date=June 2015}}

Lester Rawlins (September 24, 1924{{snd}}March 22, 1988) was an American stage, screen, and television actor. He graduated from the Carnegie Mellon College of Drama in 1950 with a BFA.[http://www.drama.cmu.edu/250/notable-alumni CMU School of Drama: Notable Alumni] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20150803043131/http://www.drama.cmu.edu/250/notable-alumni |date=2015-08-03 }}, drama.cmu.edu; accessed June 8, 2015.

Born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, Rawlins appeared in off-Broadway productions of Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, Winterset, In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel, and Nightride, for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance.[http://www.lortel.org/lla_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&keyword=name&first=Lester&last=Rawlins&middle= Lester Rawlins at the Lucille Lortel Archives], lortel.org; accessed June 8, 2015.

His Broadway credits included A Man for All Seasons and Da, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. Rawlins also won Obie Awards for his performance in the 1964 off-Broadway production of the play The Old Glory by the poet Robert Lowell{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/154799-Robert-Lowells-Benito-Cereno-Begins-Off-Broadway-at-the-Flea-Sept-22 |title=The Old Glory Revival, Article in Playbill |publisher=Playbill.com |date=2011-09-22 |accessdate=2012-02-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129213213/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/154799-Robert-Lowells-Benito-Cereno-Begins-Off-Broadway-at-the-Flea-Sept-22 |archivedate=2012-01-29 }} and for his performances in off-Broadway productions of Brendan Behan's The Quare Fellow and Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/29/obituaries/lester-rawlins-63-stage-tv-actor-won-tony-for-da.html|title=NY Times Obituary|work=The New York Times|date=1988-03-29|accessdate=2012-02-07}}{{IBDB name|57179}}

On television, Rawlins had recurring roles on The Defenders, Kojak, The Secret Storm, and Ryan's Hope. His feature films included Diary of a Mad Housewife and They Might Be Giants. Rawlins was a regular on the CBS soap opera, The Edge of Night for several years, where he played the role of wealthy Orin Hillyer.{{IMDb name|712644}}

He also could be heard on television and radio commercials, and was most notably the voice-over for the Dunkin' Donuts TV and radio advertising campaign created by the New York advertising agency Ally & Gargano.