A horror movie icon known for “Candyman” and “Final Destination” is dead at age 69.
Tony Todd died Wednesday at his home in Marina del Rey, California, his wife Fatima told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday. A cause of death was not announced, but Fatima said he had been battling a long illness.
Todd appeared in more than 240 movies and TV shows, including 1986′s “Platoon,” 1990′s “Night of the Living Dead,” 1994′s “The Crow,” 1996′s “The Rock,” 2006′s “Hatchet,” 2009′s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” and television series “The Flash,” “The Young and the Restless” and “Homicide: Life on the Street.” He also played Worf’s brother Kurn in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” plus Alpha Hirogen in “Star Trek Voyager.”
However, the actor may forever be best known for playing the title character in 1992′s “Candyman,” about a hook-handed ghost covered in bees. He appeared in two “Candyman” sequels and the 2021 film of the same name co-written and co-produced by Jordan Peele.
Todd brought a similar level of intensity and creepiness to the “Final Destination” franchise, playing a funeral home owner who cautions teens trying to escape death. He appeared in all five supernatural thrillers and is set to appear in an upcoming installment, “Final Destination: Bloodlines.”
“My beloved. May you rest in power,” original “Candyman” actress Virginia Madsen wrote on Instagram. “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.”
“Tony Todd was a friend even through my darkest times. I’ll never forget that. RIP,” “Final Destination” actor Devon Sawa tweeted.
“This is a massive blow to so many,” added Syracuse University alumnus Joe Lynch, a filmmaker who worked with Todd on the “Holliston” series. “[He] taught me so much about his method of acting that I’ll never forget. He also scared, thrilled and enthralled us the world over in so many medias. But before that I met him randomly in the 90′s at a screening for an indie film he was in called DRIVEN and he was nice enough to talk with me, some lowly intern, about never giving up your dreams and to keep making stuff. ‘Someday we’ll work together’ And then HOLLISTON happened and we did. Insane. Godspeed Tony… we love you. #TonyToddRIP.”
Survivors include Todd’s wife, Fatima, and two children, Alex and Ariana.
