(4 December 1954 - 6 November 2024)
The American actor Tony Todd, who has died at the age of 69 from stomach cancer, became famous for playing the title character in the Candyman films. However, that was not all that Todd did in a very busy career. He made upwards of 250 film and television appearances between 1986 and 2024, in less than forty years of working, so that he must hold some kind of record. And that’s not all, for Todd also served as a co-producer, associate producer and executive producer on some of his films.
Anthony Tiran Todd was born in Washington DC to Evetta Lyons Gaither. He attended schools in Hartford, Connecticut, and joined the Artists Collective Inc. After studying at the University of Connecticut he studied theatre at the Eugene O’Neill Institute and the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. He was in his thirties before he began appearing on screen. His first film was Sleepwalk, a fantasy drama which led to the part of Warren in Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning Vietnam epic Platoon (1986). After a small role in 84 Charing Cross Road, he played in a series of dramas including Dennis Hopper’s Colors, Clint Eastwood’s Bird and the 1988 remake of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, the latter which perhaps gave him a taste for horror. After Voodoo Dawn came the first Candyman film (1992), based on a story by Clive Barker, with Todd as the ‘ghost’ of an African-American artist. The film was a big hit and naturally led to several sequels, including Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh in 1995, Candyman: Day of the Dead in 1999, and Candyman, a 2021 direct sequel to the first film.
The other horror series that attracted Todd was Final Destination (2000) in which he played William Bludworth, a mortician at a funeral parlour who predicts that the young survivors of a plane crash will be hunted down by a manifestation of Death for having been cheated out of his murderous plans. He also appeared in Final Destination 2 and Final Destination 3. And who provided the voice of Death? Why, none other than our friendly neighbourhood mortician. Lastly there was Final Destinations Bloodlines, Todd’s final film. In between the horrors above, Todd also appeared in the likes of The Crow, The Rock, Driven, The Pandora Project (as the CIA Director), Scarecrow Slayer, Shadow: Dead Riot, Zombies, and so many more. He also landed the male lead in Virginie Wagon’s disturbing, steamy marital drama Le Secret (2000) shot in Paris.
On TV, Tony Todd did guest shots in 21 Jump Street, Matlock, Jake and the Fatman, Star Trek: The Next Generation (as Kurn) and Star Trek: Voyager, Boston Legal, 24, etc. His last TV appearance was in Dota: Dragon’s Blood in 2021-22. Todd also recorded video games and managed to squeeze in some theatre work on Broadway too. He was married to Fatima Cortez from 1986 until his death and they had two children, Ariana and Alexander. So, a life well spent in generally odd surroundings, but an actor who claimed his own special audience, reaping great popularity on screen.
MICHAEL DARVELL
