“My beloved. May you rest in power sweet to the sweet in heaven,” said Virginia Madsen, Todd’s Candyman costar in a tearful post on Instagram. “The great actor Tony Todd has left us and now is an angel. As he was in life.”
Tony Todd was born in 1954 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Hartford, Conn. He studied at the Eugene O’Neill National Theater Institute in Waterford, Conn., and Trinity Rep Conservatory in Providence, R.I.
The six foot five black actor had the usual obstacles of anyone in the acting profession of being too this or too that. He was however very much a working actor with a strong range. He worked primarily on the stage but with a little film (but mostly TV) work thrown in. it was the usual credits like Mister This and Doctor That, with no first name. Other credits were Vietnam Vet or Demolition Man. With 18 credits during the 1980s he was reasonably in demand for support work.
While he loved the stage it was in horror that the actor would truly make his mark. First as Ben in the rather underrated 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead. But then in his break out roll as Candy Man. Probably the best of rendition of a Clive Barker story. It was hailed as a contemporary horror classic combining as it did urban legends with dark fantasy, (this was pretty new stuff back then).
“I didn’t get my master’s saying, ‘I want to be a horror film star.’ I just wanted to be a good actor,” he said, adding, “Horror fans are the most ferocious fan base there is. That allows for a lot of personal appearances and celebrating a genre that’s sort of kicked to the side but also passionately adored.”
He would continue on that genre on and off for the rest of his life. Both in Candyman’s unfortunate sequels and in the films like The Crow, Wishmaster, Scream movies and the Final Destination series.
His unmistakably distinct basso profundo voice made him a highly in demand voice actor. His voice was every bit as recognizable as James Earl Jones. You always knew who it was whether was playing Venom in the Spiderman games or the title role in the Bleak December iteration of Dracula.
Oddly for all of his success in horror, Tony Todd credited his success not to Candy Man but to his appearance on Star Trek as Kurn, the older brother of Worf. Actors can be almost as superstitious as professional military men.* Todd credited the success he enjoyed for the rest of career to Star Trek. He went out of his way to appear in several episodes of every Star Trek series (except Enterprise) and even took a major part in the fan film Prelude to Axanar.
Todd seems to have been that rare creature in Hollywood, genuinely nice guy and good friend. I’ve seen nothing but fond memories since his passing.
He died of cancer at this home in Marina del Rey at the age of 69.
Tony Todd
1954 – 2024
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*And nobody is as superstitious as we are.
English (US) · 