Film fans may recognize him as Baron Samedi from the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die or Punjab from 1982’s Annie, but actor Geoffrey Holder had a prolific career as a painter before gaining worldwide fame on stage and screen. He died in New York on Monday at the age of 84.

Holder was well-known for his booming baritone voice and described himself as a “free spirit”, particularly as an artist. In fact, his paintings were the thing that enabled him to move to New York City from Trinidad, where he began his career as a dancer.

He settled into Manhattan in the 1950’s where he taught at the Katherine Dunham school and was a principal dancer at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.

Holder also appeared on Broadway in productions of Josephine Baker and House of Flowers. The Great White Way is also where he met his wife, Carmen De Lavallade, to whom he was still married at the time of his death.

In 1975, he won a pair of Tony Awards for his direction and costumes on The Wiz, and he garnered a Drama Desk Award as well.

A movie career soon followed, starting in 1962 where he appeared as himself in the British film All Night Long. From there, he found steady film and television work, but it was a break-out role as the villainous Voodoo henchman Baron Samedi up against Roger Moore’s James Bond that gained him worldwide attention. It would be his most recognizable role until his appearance as Punjab in the 1982 film version of the Broadway smash Annie.

Holder was also a familiar face on television, appearing in commercials for 7UP that made him a household name.

Most recently, Holder played the narrator in Tim Burton’s adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, once again utilizing that inimitable voice that audiences had come to know and love.

But despite all of it, Holder was still an avid painter and once described his style as someone who enjoyed to “paint a slice of life, whatever it was that day.”

“I get up and paint. Everyone want to put a label on it, but I am a free spirit, so I fight against that.”