Tony-Winning Actor Dies Of Aids

Ron Richardson, a singer and actor who won a Tony for his performance in “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” died Wednesday at age 43.

The cause was AIDS, said his manager, Michael Bolanos.

Richardson was praised for his powerful singing and the tragic resonance of his acting as the runaway slave Jim in the Broadway musical adapted from Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn.”

He won a Tony in 1985 as best supporting actor in a musical.