Val Pringle was an African-American actor, singer, writer and musician who was born in Washington, D.C. in 1937. His varied career included concerts in the USA and Europe as well as appearances in nightclubs in the USA and Canada. For RCA Victor he recorded Porgy and Bess and Show Boat. In London he also appeared in Show Boat at the Adelphi Theatre and The Black Mikado at the Cambridge Theatre. He also appeared on the popular Ed Sullivan Show and Merv Griffin Show on US television. (Birmingham Rep biography) Pringle moved to Lesotho with his Dutch wife in the 1980s. He died there in 1999 when burglars broke into his home and stabbed him to death. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetary in Arlington, VA; the cemetary is reserved for US veterans and war casualties. (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14016574)