Lance Reddick, 'The Wire' and 'John Wick' star, dies at 60
NEW YORK (AP) – Lance Reddick, a character actor who specialized in intense, icy and potentially sinister authority figures on TV and film including “The Wire,” “Fringe” and “John Wick” franchises, has died. Has been. He was 60 years old.
Reddick died “suddenly” Friday morning, his publicist Mia Hansen said in a statement, attributing his death to natural causes. The news of his death was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.com.
Tributes poured in on social media after news of the death, with filmmaker James Gunn calling Reddick “an incredibly nice man, and an incredibly talented actor” in a tweet, and Reddick’s co-star on “The Wire” Artist Wendell Pierce paid tribute on Twitter. “A man of great strength and grace,” she wrote e. “As talented a musician as he was, so was an actor. class symbol.”
Reddick was often donned in a suit or a crisp uniform during his career, playing tall silent and dignified men. He was best known for his role as straight-laced Lt. Cedric Daniels on the hit HBO series “The Wire,” where his character was caught up in the dirty politics of the Baltimore Police Department.
“I am an artist at heart. I think I’m very good at what I do. When I went to drama school, I knew I was at least as talented as the other students, but because I was a black man and I wasn’t pretty, I knew I had to work hard to be the best I could be. Ho, and get noticed,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2009.
Reddick starred as special agent Philip Broyles on the Fox series “Fringe”, the smartly dressed Matthew Ebdon on “Lost” and multi-skilled Continental Hotel concierge Charon in the “John Wick” films, which featured in the series The fourth one is also included. Which will be released at the end of this month.
She earned a SAG Award nomination in 2021 as part of the ensemble cast of Regina King’s film “One Night in Miami.” Reddick had recurring roles on “Intelligence” and “American Horror Story” and was on the show “Bosch” for most of its seven-year run.
Her upcoming projects include the 20th Century remake of “White Men Can’t Jump” and “Shirley,” Netflix’s biopic of former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. She was also expected to appear in the “John Wick” spinoff “Ballerina” as well as “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial”.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Reddick was a Yale University Drama School graduate who enjoyed some success after school with guest or recurring roles on “CSI: Miami” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” He also appeared in several films, including “I Dreamed of Africa,” “The Siege” and “Great Expectations.”
It was in season four of “Oz,” a doomed undercover officer sent to prison who becomes an addict, that Reddick found a career breakthrough.
“I was never interested in television. I always saw it as a means to an end. Like so many actors, I was only interested in doing theater and film. But ‘Oz’ changed television. That quality, edgy , was the beginning of HBO’s reign over the artsy stuff. The stuff that’s reminiscent of the great cinema of the ’60s and ’70s,” he told The Associated Press in 2011.
“When the opportunity for ‘Oz’ came along, I jumped. And when I read the pilot for ‘The Wire’ as a guy who never wanted to be on television, I realized I had to be on this show.” Should be in
Reddick attended the prestigious Eastman School of Music, where he studied classical composition, and he played piano. His debut album, the jazzy “Contemplation and Remembrance”, came out in 2011.
Reddick had a recurring role on CBS’ “Intelligence” as Central Intelligence Agency Director Jeffrey Tetazoo. On “American Horror Story: Coven”, Reddick portrayed Papa Legaba, who goes between humanity and the spirit world.
Reddick is survived by his wife, Stephanie Reddick, and children Yvonne Nicole Reddick and Christopher Reddick.
