All of us right here at Bloody Disgusting are devastated to study that horror icon Tony Todd, the legendary actor who performed the title character in Candyman (1992) and its sequels, handed away on November 6 at his residence in Los Angeles. He was 69. Deadline first reported the information.
The prolific actor amassed greater than 240 movie and TV credit spanning his 4 decade profession. Whereas the actor’s massive break got here when he was forged in Oliver Stone’s 1986 Vietnam Battle epic Platoon, he would safe his identify within the style pantheon just some brief years later.
Todd starred in Tom Savini’s 1990 remake of Night time of the Residing Lifeless as Ben, the position performed by Duane Jones in George A. Romero’s iconic 1968 authentic. Todd’s heat, commanding efficiency was one of many main causes this remake was so profitable and it was a precursor to his flip as Candyman. Regardless of having lower than 10 minutes of complete display time, Candyman’s presence is felt all through the unique horror basic that spawned a number of sequels – that’s all due to Tony Todd’s iconic efficiency.
When talking at Salem Horror Fest in 2023, the actor traced his affection for appearing again to a highschool English instructor who launched him to William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. “It was like a light-weight bulb went off. From that second on, I knew that my entire life can be devoted to portraying deep, enriched characters and representing my people who didn’t come together with me or had been caught in a groove. So it’s not simply me sitting up right here; it’s everyone I ever knew.”
Todd additionally had an impactful position within the Remaining Vacation spot movies as coroner William Bludworth, who followers speculate is both the Grim Reaper or Devil himself. His mysterious, charismatic, but temporary efficiency resonated with horror followers and made him a staple of the franchise. A lot in order that Remaining Vacation spot 6 is alleged to dig into Bludworth’s backstory.
It’s clear that Todd liked the style simply as a lot because the followers, and its followers liked him. A few of his different notable style credit embody Wishmaster, The Crow, Adam Inexperienced’s Hatchet franchise, Hell Fest, Freeform’s Lifeless of Summer season, MTV/VH1’s Scream, and a lot extra.
We’d even be remiss to not acknowledge his distinctive deep voice, which led to quite a few voice-acting roles, together with Darkseid within the DC Animated Film Universe and Venom in Insomniac Video games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Tony Todd delivered no scarcity of memorable moments by his appearing work in theater, tv, movie, and video video games, and he’ll be vastly missed.
We ship our ideas and prayers to all of Tony’s family and friends. He’s immortal to all of us.
