Rod Perry (actor)
American actor (1934-2020)
Roderick Maurice Perry (July 30, 1934 – December 17, 2020) was an American actor best known for his role as Sgt. David "Deacon" Kay in the 1970s TV series S.W.A.T. Perry also played leading roles in two blaxploitation movies in the mid-1970s: The Black Godfather (1974) and The Black Gestapo (1975). Other TV appearances include Barney Miller, Good Times, Babylon 5, and the 1974 TV movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Trapped Beneath the Sea.
In the 2000s, Perry had a cameo role in the 2003 film version of S.W.A.T., playing the father of the character he portrayed three decades earlier in the TV series, played on this occasion by LL Cool J.
Background
He is the father of singer DeQn Sue who released her Zeitgeist album in 2014.
Career
Perry's earliest film work was in the Lamberto V. Avellana directed Indian / Philippine film, The Evil Within, released in 1970. He played the part of Rod Stevens who teamed up with special agent Dev Varma (played by Dev Anand) to bust up an opium syndicate. Following that he played the part of cowboy Joe Pittman in the made for television film, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. His character Joe Pittman marries Miss Jane Pittman (Played by Cicely Tyson). After he is killed from being dragged by a horse. After that he had the lead role in Street Wars aka The Black Godfather, which also starred Don Chastain and Jimmy Witherspoon.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Rod Perry (actor)” as american actor (1934-2020). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american actor (1934-2020). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1246911. The first chronological checks are 1934, 2020, 1974 and 1975.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Rod Perry (actor)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Rod Perry (actor) primary sources, Rod Perry (actor) archive and Perry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rod Perry (actor)”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Rod Perry (actor)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.