Lance Reddick, the charismatic and prolific actor who appeared in major TV series like The Wire, Fringe and Bosch, and films like the John Wick franchise, has died of natural causes at the age of 60.
ADVERTISEMENTLance Reddick, the charismatic and prolific actor who appeared in major TV series like 'The Wire', 'Fringe' and 'Bosch', as well as in the John Wick franchise, has died of natural causes at the age of 60.
"Lance will be greatly missed," his publicist, Mia Hansen, said in a statement. "Please respect his family's privacy at this time."
The actor had been in the middle of a press tour for the fourth instalment of the John Wick movies, John Wick: Chapter 4, which debuts next week (24 March). He played a recurring character named Charon, the concierge at the Continental Hotel who works alongside Keanu Reeves’ infamous hitman. Reddick was also slated to appear in the upcoming Ballerina spinoff, starring Ana de Armas.
Following the news of his death, Hollywood has paid tribute to the unique screen presence that was Reddick.
Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski released a statement to Variety mourning the loss of their John Wick cast member: “We are deeply saddened and heartbroken at the loss of our beloved friend and colleague Lance Reddick. He was the consummate professional and a joy to work with. Our love and prayers are with his wife Stephanie, his children, family and friends. We dedicate the film to his loving memory. We will miss him dearly.”
Many took to Twitter to share their condolences:
'The Wire' actor Wendell Pierce wrote: “A man of great strength and grace. As talented a musician as he was an actor. The epitome of class. An sudden unexpected sharp painful grief for our artistic family. An unimaginable suffering for his personal family and loved ones. Godspeed my friend. You made your mark here. RIP.”
Author Stephen King said he was in the middle of a Wire rewatch and described Reddick as a “wonderful actor”.
Patton Oswalt paid homage to the actor, tweeting “Unacceptable. Death, I want your badge and scythe on my desk at 9am tomorrow”, in reference to the many police officers and lawmen Reddick played.
Fringe co-star Jared Harris wrote: “I loved working on ‘Fringe’ with him. Gracious, thoughtful & wickedly funny.”
Director Guillermo del Toro tweeted: “Great actor- I witnessed his prowess in the upcoming William Friedkin fil The Caine Mutiny.”
Reddick was born in Baltimore on 7 June 1962. He studied classical composition and earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Rochester. He moved to Boston in the 80s and earned a Master of Fine Arts from Yale in 1994.
His first major TV role came during Season 4 of HBO’s prison drama 'Oz' in 2000, in which he played an undercover officer who becomes a drug addict. HBO later cast him in his breakout role as Baltimore police lieutenant Cedric Daniels, one of the leads on 'The Wire' in 2002.
After 'The Wire' ended in 2008, Reddick joined the underrated sci-fi series 'Fringe', playing Phillip Broyles, a special agent for Homeland Security and head of the Fringe division. While his role started out as a supporting character, Broyles became a series mainstay and gradually got more screen time as the show progressed through its five seasons.
A skilled pianist, he released an album of his own works, “Contemplations & Remembrances” in 2010, and in 2014, he was cast as another police chief, but this time on Amazon’s 'Bosch' series.
Throughout his career, he also appeared in shows such as 'Lost', 'American Horror Story: Coven', 'The Blacklist' and 'Rick and Morty', as well as films like One Night in Miami and Godzilla vs. Kong.
More recently, Reddick starred in Netflix’s short-lived series 'Resident Evil', an adaptation of the popular zombie video game.
Reddick was cast as the Greek god Zeus in Disney+’s 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' series. He will also appear in upcoming releases such as Hulu’s White Men Can’t Jump remake (dropping on 19 May), Netflix’s Shirley Chisholm biopic Shirley, and the space drama Apteros.
ADVERTISEMENTReddick is survived by his wife, Stephanie Reddick, and children Yvonne Nicole Reddick and Christopher Reddick.
