Editing Adolph Caesar (section)

===''A Soldier's Play''===
Caesar’s most iconic work started with his role as US Army Sergeant Vernon C. Waters in [[Charles Fuller]]'s [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning stage drama, ''[[A Soldier's Play]]'', for which Caesar won [[Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play]] and an [[Obie Award|Obie Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Achievement]]. ''A Soldier’s Play'' is set in [[Louisiana]] during [[World War II]]. Sgt. Waters is an ambitious Black [[drill sergeant]] who strives for recognition for African-American soldiers while detesting "[[Gullah Geechee|Geechees]]", as he terms [[Uncle Tom|uneducated, subservient, and unintelligent southern Blacks]], as an obstacle to [[racial equality]] and the success of the future [[African American upper class]], and who need to be removed at all costs. The play and film are a [[murder mystery]] that unfolds in flashbacks, as a Black JAG Captain investigates Sgt. Waters' murder at the beginning of the play and which the Captain eventually reveals to have been a [[fragging]] by one of Waters' own men.

In a 1985 interview with the [[Los Angeles Times]], Caesar stated, while crafting the character of Waters, he drew on his experiences with [[racism]] in [[Classical theatre]], "I’d studied [[Shakespeare]] to death. I knew more about Shakespeare than Shakespeare knew about himself. After I did one season at a Shakespearean repertory company, a director said to me, ‘You have a marvelous voice. You know the king’s English well. You speak [[iambic pentameter]]. My suggestion is that you go to New York and get a good colored role.' Waters has tried his best, but no matter what you do, they still hate you." Caesar subsequently coined the character's signature phrase, "They still hate you".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Little|first=Dylan K.|title=Adolph Caesar: The Iconic Actor With The Iconic Voice|url=https://amandlajournal.com/999/reviews/adolph-caesar-the-iconic-actor-with-the-iconic-voice/|access-date=2020-10-26|website=Amandla!}}</ref>

Caesar subsequently reprised his role as Waters in [[Norman Jewison]]'s 1984 film adaptation of Fuller's play, retitled ''[[A Soldier's Story]].'' His performance was acclaimed and earned him numerous accolades, including [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] and [[Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Award]] nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and an [[NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture]]. He also won the [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor]].