Tony Todd, Star of Candyman, Dead at 69
The acting world has lost a horror film icon.
Tony Todd, best known for his roles in the Candyman and Final Destination movies, has died. He was 69.
The actor passed away Nov. 6 at his home in Los Angeles, Deadline reported, citing his rep.
The Washington, D.C. native studied acting at the Hartman Conservatory in Stamford, Connecticut and the Trinity Square Repertory Theatre Conservatory in Providence, Rhode Island. He made his onscreen debut in 1986 in the movie Sleepwalk and also starred that year in Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning Vietnam War film Platoon.
Todd went on to play Ben in a 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead and appeared on numerous TV shows, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, before landing his breakout role in the 1992 film Candyman.
He reprised his title part—a killer with a hook for a hand who is summoned by someone chanting his name five times in front of a mirror—in three sequels, with the most recent, also named Candyman, released in 2021.
Todd also starred in movies such as The Crow and The Rock and played William Bludworth in the 2000 horror film Final Destination and three sequels.
"It wasn't like I was in school saying, 'You know what, I want to only do movies to scare people," Todd said on the Double Toasted Interviews podcast in 2022. "No. This is the luck of the draw. That happened when I got out. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm happy for it. There are certain roles that people will remember forever, and that makes me happy."
Over the past three decades, Todd also continued his TV work, appearing in mostly sci-fi, fantasy and spy shows such as The X-Files, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, Smallville, Charmed, 24, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
In the latter, he played both Klingon Commander Kurn as well as an adult Jake Sisko, son of Captain Benjamin Sisko, who spends decades of his life trying to rescue his father following an accident in the episode "The Visitor," a favorite among Trekkies.
"'The Visitor' changed my life," Todd told StarTrek.com in 2010, "not just in terms of convention appearances, but at the time that episode was done the Internet was just exploding and I remember sitting for hours just basking in the glow of the love that was being written about that single episode."
He said that he accepted the role after his aunt, who raised him as a single parent, had passed away, adding that playing Jake was an "homage to the parental figure in my life that I loved and cherished."
"I was in a state of shock and I wasn’t able to work for four months," he recalled. "It was the role that got me up off the bed, out of the house, and into the producers’ office."
Todd was also known for his baritone voice and portrayed characters on shows such as Masters of the Universe, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, The Flash and Dota: Dragon's Blood and a variety of video games, including Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
Most recently, the actor had had a recurring role on the podcast Winnie Taylor's 4th & Inches. At the time of his death, he had completed about 10 acting and voiceover projects that have yet to be released.
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