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Actor Robert Guillaume, the butler of popular TV series Soapand the voice of baboon Rafiki in The Lion King, has died aged 89 at his home in Los Angeles.

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His wife Donna told The Associated Pressthe actor died of complications of prostrate cancer, which he battled for years.

Guillaume starred as the butler Benson DuBois in Soapfrom 1977 to 1981 -- for which he won an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor -- and later in the spinoff sitcom Benson, from 1979 to 1986. For the latter role, he became the first black actor to win an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in 1985.

In 1990, he was the first black actor to play Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera.

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His unique voice is impressed in the memory of a generation as Rafiki, the baboon in Disney's The Lion King.

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He also won a Grammy in 1995 for narrating a version for children of The Lion King.

Guillaume had a minor stroke in 1999, at the age of 71. At the time he was playing the role of an executive producer named Isaac Jaffe on Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night. The actor recovered and resumed his role in the series, with the stroke integrated in the script.

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“Robert was a lovely man who we brought in for one interpretation of Rafiki and who then completely reinvented it working in the studio. His passion and dedication and willingness to keep working created an indelible Disney character for the ages,” Thomas Schumacher, president and producer of Disney Theatrical Productions, said in a statement.

Celebrities from Samuel L. Jackson to Shonda Rhymes paid tribute to the actor on Twitter:

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