Tony Todd Dead: ‘Candyman’ Star Turned 69

Tony Todd, an American actor best known for helming the horror franchise “Candyman” as the eponymous ghost with the hook, died Wednesday at his home in Marina Del Rey, California. He was 69.

Todd’s death was confirmed by a representative for the actor. A cause of death was not announced.

Todd has been a reliable presence in the genre for four decades, including iconic titles such as Alex Proyas’ comic book adaptation ‘The Crow’, Michael Bay’s Alcatraz actioner ‘The Rock’ and the extended killer series ‘Final Destination’. .” One of his first film appearances came in his early 30s, in Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning war epic “Platoon.” In “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Todd donned alien makeup to play Kurn, a commander in the Klingon Defense Force and the brother of Worf (played by series regular Michael Dorn).

But Todd cemented his name in the genre pantheon with his performance in Bernard Rose’s “Candyman,” an Americanized spin on an early 1990s Clive Barker short story that put a memorable supernatural twist on themes of gentrification and racism. At a towering 6-foot-1, Todd played Daniel Robitaille, aka Candyman, the tortured, bee-covered spirit of an African-American artist and son of a slave who was murdered for his relationship with a white woman. The film starred Virginia Madsen as a Chicago graduate student who prepared a dissertation on the legend of Candyman by researching downtown Chicago.

“My beloved. May you remain in power,” Madsen said wrote in a post on Instagram after learning of her co-star’s death. “The great actor Tony Todd has left us and is now an angel. As he was in life. More later, but I can’t do that right now. I love you.”

“Candyman” positioned itself as a somewhat artsy genre piece and debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Midnight Madness section. The handling of serious themes did not go uncontroversial at the time, with some accusations being made that it was part of racist stereotypes. But the film has endured in critical and genre circles for its fearless approach to serious issues, connecting America’s history of racism with the misery of contemporary urban life.

Todd reprized his role as a lovable slasher several times. He returned for the 1995 sequel “Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh” (which marked an early feature for later Oscar nominee Bill Condon), as well as Turi Meyer’s “Candyman: Day of the Dead” in 1999. After decades of development, The property was revived at Universal in 2021 by director Nia DaCosta with the simple title ‘Candyman’, which acted as a direct sequel to the 1992 original and was co-written by DaCosta, Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld. Todd reprized his role in the new entry, which starred Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as an artist who becomes involved with the urban myth of Candyman.

Born on December 4, 1954 in Washington, DC, Todd attended the University of Connecticut for two years before transferring to the Eugene O’Neill National Theater Institute. Trained for the stage, Todd practiced playwriting himself and taught it to high school students in Hartford. He would go on to play the title role of August Wilson’s “King Hedley II” with productions in Pittsburgh, Seattle and Boston. His performance was ‘a memorable tour de force’ Variety wrote in a review at the time.

Among Todd’s credits, which total well over 200, the actor had a recurring role on ‘Boston Public’ and guest appearances on ‘Law & Order’, ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’, ‘The X-Files’, ‘Smallville’ , ”Psych’ and ’24.’ He also often voiced his voice, playing The Fallen in ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’, Zoom in The CW’s ‘The Flash’ and, most recently, Venom in Insomniac’s PlayStation hit ‘Spider-Man 2’. He starred in the 1990 remake of ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and was one of the few actors to return in the ‘Final Destination’ franchise, which often killed off all of its new characters at the end of each of the entries.

Todd has never stopped working, often lending his gravitas and genre cred to direct-to-video thrillers in recent years. His profile on IMDb currently lists more than nine titles that have entered post-production.

Todd is survived by his two children, Alex and Ariana.