“May you rest in power sweet to the sweet in heaven,” costar Virginia Madsen wrote
Tony Todd, the prolific actor who starred in genre hits like Candyman and Final Destination, died on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at his home in Marina Del Rey, Calif. He was 69.
Todd’s rep confirmed his death to PEOPLE. A cause of death was not immediately available.
The actor starred in over 100 movies and television shows, and was a reliable presence in genre fare. His horror credits include the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead, The Crow, and the Final Destination movies, in which he played William Bludworth.
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Todd also scared audiences with his performance as the title character in 1992’s Candyman. After playing the role in the 1995 and 1999 sequels, he returned in the 2021 franchise reboot directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Jordan Peele.
Virginia Madsen, who starred alongside Todd in the original Candyman, shared an emotional tribute to the actor on Instagram.
“My beloved. May you rest in power sweet to the sweet in heaven,” she wrote. “The great actor Tony Todd has left us and now is an angel. As he was in life. More later but I can’t right now. I love you.”
The Washington, D.C., native made his film debut in 1986, appearing in Sleepwalk and Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning classic Vietnam War movie Platoon. In the war film, he played the heroin-addicted Sgt. Warren.
When it came to television, Todd worked in almost every genre. He had a recurring role in Star Trek: The Next Generation as the Klingon Kurn. On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he gave a memorable turn in the episode “The Visitor” as an adult version of Benjamin Sisko’s son.
Todd was born on Dec. 4, 1954. In a 2021 interview with The Guardian, he credited his aunt Clara Elliston for putting him on the pathway to being an actor. He moved to Hartford, Conn., where Ellison worked as a maid.
“She would bring me to some of her places, and I would stay in the library while she cleaned the house,” Todd said. “I loved books at an early age, so I was content.”
Although he later reconciled with his mother, Todd told The Guardian that his turbulent childhood drove his career.
“That all fuels me as an actor,” he said. “Because it is part of my DNA, part of my pain, my pleasure, my intellectual zone, my comfort and my discomfort.”
Todd continued to work, and has several projects in post-production, including horror movies Werewolf Game and The Witching Hour.
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In 2022, when Todd was promoting his SXSW movie Bitch Ass, Deadline asked him what makes the ultimate horror movie villain.
“You gotta have audience sympathy for the character in some way or another,” he replied. “There’s gotta be something attractive about the character that makes people want to root for them but at the same time feel repulsed by the idea. And for me personally, for every film that I do, I create a backstory for all my tortured people and my heroes alike.”
He is survived by his two children, Alex and Ariana, per Variety.
