Lance Reddick, a character actor specializing in intense, cold, and potentially sinister authority figures on television and films such as The Wire, Fringe, and the John Wick franchise, has died. He is 60 years old.
Redick died “suddenly” Friday morning, his publicist Mia Hansen said in a statement, attributing his death to natural causes. No further information was provided.
Wendell Pierce, the co-star of Redick’s The Wire, paid tribute on Twitter. “A man of great strength and grace,” he wrote. “Incredibly talented musician and actor. Class emblem.” John Wick: The Fourth director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves said they dedicated the upcoming film to Reddick and were “deeply saddened and heartbroken over the loss.”
Reddick often wore a suit or uniform throughout his career, playing the role of a man of high rank, reserved and elegant. He is best known for his role as Lt. Cedric Daniels on the HBO series The Wire, where his character gets caught up in the convoluted politics of the Baltimore Police Department.
Wire creator David Simon tweeted his praise of Reddick: “A consummate professional, a dedicated collaborator, a wonderful and gentle man, a loyal friend. I could go on, but no, I can’t go on. This is an evisceration.” And way, way too fast.
“I am an artist at heart. I feel 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 black and not pretty, I knew I had to work to be the best and get noticed,” Reddick said in the Los Angeles Times, 2009.
Reddick also played special agent Philip Broyles in Fox’s Fringe, the well-dressed Matthew Abaddon in Lost, and the multi-talented concierge at the Continental Hotel Charon in the John Wick Lionsgate films, including the upcoming fourth series. Month out.
“The world of Wick would not be what it is without Lance Reddick and the unprecedented depth he brings to Charon’s humanity and unflinching charisma. Lance left an indelible legacy and a most memorable work, but we will remember him as our wonderful and cheerful friend and doorman,” Lionsgate said in a statement.
Reddick was nominated for a 2021 SAG Award for being part of the ensemble cast of Regina King’s One Night in Miami. He had recurring roles in American Intelligence and Horror Story and starred on The Bosch Show for seven years.
Her upcoming projects include the 20th-century remake of White Men Can’t Jump and Shirley, a Netflix biopic about former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. He will also appear in John Wick Ballerina’s spin-off and Kane’s Court Martial.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Reddick is a Yale School of Drama graduate who has had post-school success, appearing as a guest or in recurring roles on CSI: Miami and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He has also acted in films such as I Dreamed of Africa, The Siege, and Great Expectations.
In the fourth season of Oz, Reddick played a cursed undercover officer who is sent to prison and becomes an addict and makes his career breakthrough.
“Television never interested me. I always saw it as a means to an end. Like most actors, I was only interested in theater and cinema. But Oz replaced television. This began HBO’s reign of quality, unusual, and artistic. Things reminiscent of the great cinema of the 60s and 70s,” he told The Associated Press in 2011.
“When the opportunity for ‘Oz’ presented itself, I jumped at it. And when I read the pilot for The Wire, as someone who never wanted to be on TV, I knew I had to be on this show.”
Reddick attended the prestigious Eastman School of Music, where he studied classical composition and piano. Her first album, the jazzy Contemplations and Remembrances was released in 2011.
He had a recurring role as Jeffrey Tetazu, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, on the CBS series Intelligence. In American Horror Story: Coven, he plays Papa Legba, the intermediary between humans and the spirit world.
Reddick is survived by their wife, Stephanie Reddick, and children, Yvonne Nicole Reddick and Christopher Reddick.
