?REMEMBERING KRISTOFF ST. JOHN
Kristoff St. John (July 15, 1966 – February 3, 2019) was an American actor best known for playing Neil Winters on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless from 1991 until his death in 2019, which earned him eleven Daytime Emmy Award nominations, two Emmy Awards, and ten NAACP Image Awards. He was also known for his role as a young Alex Haley on ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations.
Kristoff St. John was born July 15, 1966, in New York City and grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Los Angeles.
As a ten-year-old child, St. John had a featuring role on the Saturday-morning comedy Big John, Little John, broadcast on NBC in 1976. St. John portrayed a young Alex Haley in the 1979 ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations. He also made a small appearance as Booker Brown on the ABC sitcom Happy Days, as well as a boyfriend of Denise Huxtable on an early episode of The Cosby Show. In his first major role, he appeared as Charlie Richmond Jr. in the 1985 CBS sitcom Charlie & Co.
St. John’s first major soap role was Adam Marshall on the NBC soap opera, Generations. After the show’s cancellation in 1991, he originated the role of Neil Winters on The Young and the Restless, and played the character for 28 years; no African American actor had appeared on the series more frequently than St. John. In 1992, he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his role. On September 5, 1994, he hosted CBS Soap Break.
In 2005, St. John became a special host for TV Guide Channel. In 2007, he received his fifth Daytime Emmy nomination. He was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor. In 2008, St. John won his second Daytime Emmy, as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
In 2014, A Man Called God, a documentary that St. John co-directed with his father Christopher St. John, debuted at the San Diego Black Film Festival. The film was awarded there, and at other festivals such as the American Documentary Film Festival, and the Beverly Hills Film Festival.
Kristoff’s final appearance as Neil aired on February 6, 2019. Late in April, it was revealed that Neil had died of a stroke.
OTHER TV SHOWS
1975 That’s My Mama, 1976 Happy Days,1977 Wonder Woman,1979–1980 The Bad News Bears, 1982 Sister, Sister TV Movie,1984 The Cosby Show,1988 A Different World, 1995 Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, 1996 Martin,1997 The Jamie Foxx Show, Living Single, & The Nanny, 1998 Family Matters, and 2009 Everybody Hates Chris.
St. John died at his Los Angeles, California, home on February 3, 2019, at age 52. His death was ruled accidental with the cause listed as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
AWARDS
▪1992 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪1993 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪1994 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪1996 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪1997 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪2003 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪2004 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪2008 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪2008 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪2013 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series The Young and the Restless
▪2014 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series The Young and the Restless
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