A. Marcus Hemphill Is Dead; TV Writer and a Playwright
Published: August 16, 1986
A. Marcus Hemphill, a New York playwright and television writer, died Monday at Cabrini Medical Center after a long illness. He was 56 years old and lived in the Bronx.

Mr. Hemphill, a native of Fort Worth, had been a writer for ''The Bill Cosby Show'' since 1985 and was the author of ''Inacent Black and the Five Brothers,'' a comedy that was performed at the Billie Holiday Theater in Brooklyn in 1979. In 1981 the play, with Melba Moore as its star, had a brief run on on Broadway at the Biltmore Theater.

As a young man, Mr. Hemphill formed a popular jazz team, The Pair Extraordinaire, with Carl Craig, Together they recorded five albums for Liberty Records and toured extensively with Bill Cosby.

Mr. Hemphill was also the artistic director of the Riverside Youth Drama and Culture Club at the Riverside Church.

He is survived by his wife, the former Gerry Burton; his mother, Mildred Brown of Cleveland; his father, Aurelius Marcus of Fort Worth, and a sister, Sandy Joyce of Manhattan.