Cynthia Belgrave

Cynthia Belgrave, who acted in the first New York productions of ”The Blacks” by Jean Genet and Adrienne Kennedy’s ”Funnyhouse of a Negro” as well as in plays by James Baldwin and Wole Soyinka, died on Feb. 1 at her home in Brooklyn. She was 76.

The cause was cancer, said her husband, Kenneth Farris.

Especially during the 1960’s and 70’s, Ms. Belgrave was an active presence in the New York theater, working on Broadway and Off Broadway. ”The Blacks” in 1961 proved to be a launching pad for James Earl Jones, Roscoe Lee Browne, Louis Gossett Jr., Cicely Tyson, Godfrey Cambridge and Ms. Belgrave, among others. In the play, she created the role of Adelaide Bobo.

In collaboration with her husband, she presented Mr. Soyinka’s ”Trials of Brother Jero” and ”The Strong Breed” during a time when the playwright was a political prisoner in Nigeria. She also directed both plays and acted in ”Brother Jero.”

Ms. Belgrave was born in Manhattan and lived in Boston from the age of 4. She began her career as a painter but then switched to acting, arriving in New York City in the late 1950’s when Off Broadway was at its liveliest. She later appeared in Ellis Rabb’s production of ”Twelfth Night” at the Vivian Beaumont Theater and in Derek Walcott’s ”Remembrance” at the Public Theater. In 1977 she opened her own studio theater, while continuing to appear Off Broadway and in regional theater. In recent years, she resumed her career as an artist.