Dexter Scott King, the youngest son of the late Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, died on Monday, January 22. Dexter was 62 years old and passed away from prostate cancer, his wife Leah Weber confirmed in a statement.
“He transitioned peacefully in his sleep at home with me in Malibu,” Leah said. “He gave it everything and battled this terrible disease until the end. As with all the challenges in his life, he faced this hurdle with bravery and might.”
Dexter was only seven years old when his father was assassinated in 1968. After the tragedy, Dexter followed in his dad’s footsteps in his career. Here’s everything you need to know about Dexter Scott King.
Dexter was a civil rights activist.
Dexter went to college at Moorehouse College, his father’s alma mater, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. In 1989, Dexter took over the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, but he resigned after only four months due to a dispute with his mother. In 1993, he became the chairman, president and CEO of the organization. He was criticized for some of his decisions at the company including firing staff members and shutting down a child care center.
He was also an actor and producer.
As an actor, Dexter played his late father in the 2002 TV movie The Rosa Parks Story, starring Angela Bassett as Rosa Parks. He also voiced his dad in the 1999 animated children’s educational film Our Friend, Martin.
Dexter also produced an album with Prince and Whitney Houston. It was called King Dream Chorus & Holiday Crew: King Holiday and it came out for the first Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday in 1986.
His mother died on his 45th birthday.
Coretta Scott King passed away at the age of 76 on January 30, 2006 — the day of Dexter’s 45th birthday. Dexter was present for his mother’s funeral, which was held at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia on February 7, 2006.
He had three siblings.
Dexter was the third-born of four children. He had an older brother, Martin Luther King III, 66, an older sister, Yolanda Denise King, and a younger sister, Bernice King, 60. Yolanda was the first King sibling to die in 2007. She was 51 years old.
Dexter and his siblings shared control of the King family estate, and they didn’t always agree on everything. In 2014, Dexter and his brother sued their sister, Bernice, over ownership of the Nobel Peace Prize that their dad was awarded in 1964, as well as his traveling bible used by Barack Obama at the former president’s second inauguration. The lawsuit was eventually settled in 2016.
Dexter’s brother reacted to his death in a statement. “The sudden shock is devastating. It is hard to have the right words at a moment like this,” he said, per CNN. “Please keep the entire King family in your prayers, and in particular Dexter’s wife, Leah Weber.”
Dexter’s surviving sister, who is the CEO of the King Center, said in a statement that “words cannot express the heart break I feel from losing another sibling. I’m praying for strength to get through this very difficult time.”
He was married.
Dexter and Leah tied the knot in a private ceremony in California in July 2013. They did not have any children.