New Delhi: Lance Reddick, an actor most known for playing Cedric Daniels on “The Wire” and for his role in the “John Wick” film series, has passed away, according to his representative, Mia Hansen.
The actor was 60. Reddick died unexpectedly on Friday morning “from natural causes,” according to Hansen.
She said that Lance would be deeply missed.
Reddick began his acting career in the 1990s, appearing in episodes of “New York Undercover” and “The West Wing,” parts that frequently called for gravitas and intensity.
He once admitted to The Guardian that his career goal as a teenager in Baltimore was to become a musician. In an effort to provide for his young family and establish a foundation for a music career, he accidentally entered the acting industry.
At age 29, he applied to Yale University to study drama and was accepted. He started getting jobs in local theatre and eventually graduated.
He initially appeared in New York for “The Corner,” an HBO miniseries that Simon produced two years prior to “The Wire” and for which he was given an audition by “Wire” writer David Simon.
Reddick was not involved in that production, but he did go on to land his first recurring part on HBO’s “Oz,” in which he portrayed an undercover cop impersonating a prisoner.
Finally, Simon cast him as Narcotics Unit Lieutenant Daniels, giving Reddick his breakthrough role.
“The Wire” never became a big hit, but it received a tonne of praise from critics and professionals in the field.
“I thought it would be a hit but I didn’t anticipate that it would take so long to catch on, or that it would become this phenomenon,” Reddick told the Guardian. “Or that it would be so ignored by the industry. That really floored me, because I knew how good we were; we all did.”
After “The Wire,” Reddick continued to amass credits, including a remarkable performance on “Lost,” recurring parts in the Fox science fiction series “Fringe,” Amazon’s “Bosch,” and, most recently, the Netflix adaptation of “Resident Evil.”
His supporting roles in films included “One Night in Miami,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” and the planned remake of “White Guys Can’t Jump,” in addition to the “John Wick” series.
Despite his well-known intensity, Reddick occasionally displayed a lighter side by appearing as a guest star on “Young Sheldon” and “Key and Peele.”