fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Thomas Jefferson Byrd (June 25, 1950 – October 3, 2020) was an American character actor who played in several of director Spike Lee's films. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in the 2003 Broadway revival of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.[1]

Thomas Jefferson Byrd
Born	(1950-06-25)June 25, 1950 Griffin, Georgia, U.S.
Died	October 3, 2020(2020-10-03) (aged 70) Atlanta, Georgia
Education	Morris Brown College Member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Alpha Sigma Chapter California Institute of the Arts
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1992–2020

Career

Byrd earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Morris Brown College and later received a Master of Fine Arts degree in dance from California Institute of the Arts.[1]

Byrd starred in numerous regional stage productions including the San Diego Repertory Theatre's award-winning performance of Spunk.[2] He also starred in Home by Samm-Art Evans, Two Trains Running, The Piano Lesson and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Alliance Theater, Flyin' West, Hamlet and Miss Evers' Boys at the Indiana Repertory, and in other productions of Flyin' West at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and at the Long Wharf Theatre.[2]

For his Broadway debut, a performance in the 2003 revival of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Byrd received a Tony Award nomination for best featured actor.[3][1]

Byrd appeared in several films by Spike Lee, including Clockers, Get on the Bus, Bamboozled, Red Hook Summer, and Chi-Raq.[2] Byrd also appeared as Stokely Darling in Lee's Netflix series She's Gotta Have It.[2] His other films credits include Set It Off, Ray, and Brooklyn's Finest.[2]

Death

After an emergency call was made in Atlanta, Georgia, around 1:45 a.m. on October 3, 2020, Byrd was found unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds in his back and pronounced dead. He was 70.[4][1] A spokesperson for Atlanta police said that homicide detectives were "working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident".[4] On October 17, 2020, a 30-year-old man was arrested for having a connection to Byrd's murder.[5]

Work

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Clockers	Errol Barnes	[6]
1996	Girl 6	Caller #18
1996	Get on the Bus	Evan Thomas Sr.
1996	Set It Off	Luther
1997	Touch Me	Country Doctor
1998	He Got Game	Sweetness
1998	Bulworth	Uncle Rafeeq
2000	Trois	Thomas
2000	Bamboozled	Honeycutt
2001	MacArthur Park	Cody
2002	Never Get Outta the Boat	William Ellis
2002	The Kudzu Christmas	Reverend Burton
2004	X, Y	Marcus
2004	Ray	Jimmy
2009	Brooklyn's Finest	Uncle Jeb
2010	Bronx Paradise	Jimmy
2012	Red Hook Summer	Deacon Zee	[7]
2014	Da Sweet Blood of Jesus	Bishop Zee	[8]
2015	Chi-Raq	Apollo	[9]
2022	Freedom's Path	Abner	Posthumous release; Final film role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	In the Heat of the Night	Louis Arthur	Episode: "Random's Child"
1993	I'll Fly Away: Then and Now	Panhandler	TV movie
1997	Living Single	Mr. Leon	Episode: "Moonlight Savings Time"
1998	Mama Flora's Family	Flora's Pa	2 episodes
1999	Passing Glory		TV movie
2001	Boycott	Raymond Parks	TV movie
2004	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Curtis Romney	Episode: "Mad Hops"
2005	Lackawanna Blues	Numb Finger Pete	TV movie
2017–19	She's Gotta Have It	Stokely Darling	10 episodes
2020	The Last O.G.	Jimmy	Episode: "Family Feud"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Jitney	Fielding
2003	Ma Rainey's Black Bottom	Toledo	Won Theatre World Award[10] Nominated for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play[11]
2004	Good Boys	Thomas Thurman
2004	Elmina's Kitchen	Digger
2006	Crowns	Man
2006	Gem of the Ocean	Solly Two Kings
2007	Trouble in Mind	Sheldon Forrester
2009	Death of a Salesman	Uncle Ben Loman
2010	Ma Rainey's Black Bottom	Toledo
2011	Trouble in Mind	Sheldon Forrester
2012	Gleam	Logan Killicks / Sam Watson

Source:[12]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Nominated work	Result	Notes
2003	Theatre World Award	Ma Rainey's Black Bottom	Won	[10]
2003	Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play		Nominated	[11]

References

External links

• Thomas Jefferson Byrd at IMDb

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