Top 24 famous black actors who died recently as of 2024

While death is an unavoidable part of life, it does not make saying goodbye to those who have died any easier. People lose some of their all-time favourite actors every year. The entertainment industry has lost some A-list names in recent times. The list below pays tribute to some of the black actors who died recently.

Movies and television series are frequently used an escape and a reflection of life as it unfolds. They can also significantly shape and reinforce cultural beliefs and attitudes. The famous black actors who died recently left a gaping hole in the industry and are fondly remembered by many.

Overview of the black actors who died recently

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Black actors who died recently

These deceased black actors have left an indelible mark on the fashion, music, television, and film worlds.

1. O.J. Simpson

• Full name: Orenthal James Simpson
• Date of birth: 9 July 1947
• Date of death: 10 April 2024
• Age at death: 74 years

O.J. Simpson was an American football player and actor who played in the National Football League for 11 seasons. In 2008, he was convicted and sentenced to 33 years' imprisonment with a minimum of nine years without parole. He was released from parole in 2021 and lived in freedom until his death from cancer in 2024.

2. Chance Perdomo

• Full name: Chance Perdomo
• Date of birth: 19 October 1996
• Date of death: 30 March 2024
• Age at death: 27 years

Chance Perdomo was a black celebrity who earned a British Academy Television Award nomination for his performance in the Killed by My Debt. The television star was killed in a motorcycle accident that involved no other parties on 30 March 2024.

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3. Louis Gossett Jr.

• Full name: Louis Cameron Gossett Jr.
• Date of birth: 27 May 1936
• Date of death: 29 March 2024
• Age at death: 87 years

The late Louis Gossett Jr. made his stage debut at the age of 17. Shortly thereafter, he successfully auditioned for the Broadway play Take a Giant Step. He died on 29 March 2024 in Santa Monica, California, due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

4. Hinton Battle

• Full name: Hinton Govorn Battle Jr.
• Date of birth: 29 November 1956
• Date of death: 30 January 2024
• Age at death: 67 years

Hinton Battle Jr. was an actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer. He won three Tony Awards, all in the category of Featured Actor in a Musical. He died on 30 January 2024 after a lengthy illness. He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

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5. Carl Weathers

• Full name: Carl Weathers
• Date of birth: 14 January 1948
• Date of death: 1 February 2024
• Age at death: 76 years

Carl Weathers was an actor, director, and gridiron football linebacker. His roles included boxer Apollo Creed in the first four Rocky films. He also appeared in Predator, Happy Gilmore, and the Toy Story franchise. Weathers died at his home in Los Angeles on 2 February 2024 from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

6. Andre Braugher

• Full name: Andre Keith Braugher
• Date of birth: 1 July 1962
• Date of death: 11 December 2023
• Age at death: 61 years

Andre Keith Braugher was an actor best known for his role as Captain Raymond Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He won two Primetime Emmy Awards and was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards in his career. He died of lung cancer on 11 December 2023.

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7. Richard Roundtree

• Full name: Richard Arnold Roundtree
• Date of birth: 9 July 1942
• Date of death: 24 October 2023
• Age at death: 81 years

Richard Roundtree was best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and four of its sequels. Roundtree died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Los Angeles on 24 October 2023, at the age of 81.

8. Ron Cephas Jones

• Full name: Ron Cephas Jones
• Date of birth: 8 January 1957
• Date of death: 19 August 2023
• Age at death: 66 years

Ron Cephas Jones was a actor, best known for his role as William Hill in This Is Us, which earned him a Screen Actors Guild Award. He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and underwent a double lung transplant in 2020. Ron Cephas Jones died on 19 August 2023.

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9. Lance Reddick

• Full name: Lance Solomon Reddick
• Date of birth: 7 June 1962
• Date of death: 17 March 2023
• Age at death: 60 years

Lance Reddick was an American actor and talented musician. He was known for his roles as Cedric Daniels in The Wire, Phillip Broyles in Fringe and Chief Irvin Irving in Bosch. Reddick died as a result of Coronary Artery Disease/Atherosclerotic Heart Disease on 17 March 2023 at his home in Studio City, Los Angeles.

10. Harry Belafonte

• Full name: Harry Belafonte
• Date of birth: 1 March 1927
• Date of death: 25 April 2023
• Age at death: 96 years

The late Harry Belafonte was a singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. He died on 25 April 2023. The cause was congestive heart failure.

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11. John Beasley

• Full name: John Beasley
• Date of birth: 26 June 1943
• Date of death: 30 May 2023
• Age at death: 79 years

John Beasley is a black actor who died in 2023. He was best known for his roles in Rudy, The Apostle, The Sum of All Fears, Walking Tall, The Purge: Anarchy, Sinister 2, and Everwood.

He died on 30 May 2023 at 79. His son Michael said his death came after he was admitted to a hospital for liver tests, but he did not specify a cause.

12. Sidney Poitier

• Full name: Sidney Poitier
• Date of birth: 20 February 1927
• Date of death: 6 January 2022
• Age at death: 94 years

The late Sidney Poitier was the first Black man to win an Oscar Award. He passed away on 6 January at 94. He died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, from cardiopulmonary failure.

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After a troubled stage career, he found fame on the big screen in No Way Out and Stir Crazy. He earned prestigious awards and accolades for his performances.

13. Chadwick Boseman

• Full name: Chadwick Aaron Boseman
• Date of birth: 29 November 1976
• Date of death: 28 August 2020
• Age at death: 43 years

The late Chadwick Boseman was one of the most decorated black actors. He received multiple accolades, including Screen Actors Guild Awards, Primetime Emmy Award to a Golden Globe Award for his work.

Chadwick was known for his role as the Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film. He also worked as a writer, director, and actor. He died from complications resulting in stage IV colon cancer on 28 August 2020.

14. Michael K. Williams

• Full name: Michael Kenneth Williams
• Date of birth: 22 November 1966
• Date of death: 6 September 2021
• Age at death: 54 years

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The late Michael Kenneth Williams is among the famous black actors who died in 2021. He was best known for his role on The Wire, which aired on HBO for five seasons. Williams established himself as a gifted and versatile performer who mesmerized audiences with his stunning character portrayals.

Williams was discovered by Tupac Shakur and made his feature film debut in Bullet. He was found dead in his apartment on 6 September 2021. He died after overdosing on substances.

15. Sonya Eddy

• Full name: Sonya Eddy
• Date of birth: 17 June 1967
• Date of death: 19 December 2022
• Age at death: 55 years

Actress Sonya Eddy died aged 55 due to complications from a routine surgery. Sonya underwent a routine procedure on 9 December and was released on 11 December 2022. She became ill post-procedure and was admitted to the hospital on December 15. Doctors discovered that she had developed an uncontrollable infection.

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Sonya played nurse Epiphany Johnson at General Hospital since 2006. The actress also appeared in the spinoff series General Hospital: Night Shift.

16. Clarence Gilyard Jr

• Full name: Clarence Alfred Gilyard Jr
• Date of birth: 24 December 1955
• Date of death: 28 November 2022
• Age at death: 66 years

Clarence Gilyard Jr. is among the famous male black actors who died recently. He had worked as a film and theatre professor for over 15 years at the University of Nevada. His early career was rocky due to alleged drug abuse.

He made notable appearances in Matlock and Walker, Texas Ranger, TopGun and as the villainous computer whiz in Die Hard. Clarence passed away on 28 November 2022. No cause of death was given.

17. Stephen (tWitch) Boss

• Full name: Stephen Laurel "tWitch" Boss
• Date of birth: 29 September 1982
• Date of death: 13 December 2022
• Age at death: 40 years

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The late Stephen Boss earned the nickname tWitch as a child because he couldn't sit still. He appeared on So You Think You Can Dance and Blades of Glory. He was the in-house DJ on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

tWitch died on 13 December 2022 at 40. He took his own life at Oak Tree Inn in Encino, Los Angeles, California.

18. Roger E. Mosley

• Full name: Roger Earl Mosley
• Date of birth: 18 December 1938
• Date of death: 7 August 2022
• Age at death: 83 years

The late Roger E. Mosley is a famous black actor who died in 2022. He was best known for his role in the TV series Magnum P.I. A real-life licensed pilot himself, Mosely was not allowed to perform his stunts.

His acting prowess won him ten awards, including two Golden Globes. On 4 August 2022, Mosley was involved in a car accident in Lynwood, California. He succumbed to the severe injuries sustained from the crash.

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19. Nichelle Nichols

• Full name: Nichelle Nichols
• Date of birth: 28 December 1932
• Date of death: 30 July 2022
• Age at death: 89 years

Nichelle Nichols is among the famous women black actors who died recently. Her path in front of the screens began when jazz legend Duke Ellington discovered her in the late 1940s. She played Communication Officer Lieutenant Uhura on Star Trek.

She was the first African-American woman to play a lead role on television. Nichols died of heart failure in Silver City, New Mexico, on 30 July 2022.

20. Mary Alice

• Full name: Mary Alice Smith
• Date of birth: 3 December 1936
• Date of death: 27 July 2022
• Age at death: 85 years

The late Mary Alice was a Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress. She had a fifty-year career before her demise and is among the famous female black actors who died recently.

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She began her stage career in New York before appearing in films such as The Matrix Revolutions, Awakenings, and Malcolm X. On 27 July 2022, she died of natural causes at 85.

21. Jak Knight

• Full name: Jakim Maulana
• Date of birth: 6 November 1993
• Date of death: 14 July 2022
• Age at death: 28 years

The late Jak Knight was a stand-up comic, author, and voice actor. He was a Big Mouth writer, consulting producer, and DeVon's voice actor. He began his career as a stand-up comedian and rose to prominence as a writer and story editor for the television show Black-ish.

On 14 July 2022, Knight was found dead on an embankment in Los Angeles. He allegedly took away his life. He died at 28 due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

22. Moses J. Moseley

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• Full name: Moses J. Moseley
• Date of birth: 23 December 1990
• Date of death: 26 January 2022
• Age at death: 31 years

The late Moses J. Moseley is among the famous black actors who died in the last 10 years. He was well-known for his work on The Walking Dead, Queen of the South, and Watchmen.

Unfortunately, past trauma might have led to Moseley's demise. On 16 July 2022, his body was discovered near Hudson Bridge, bearing evidence of a gunshot wound. He was 31 at the time.

23. Max Julien

• Full name: Maxwell Julien Banks
• Date of birth: 12 July 1933
• Date of death: 1 January 2022
• Age at death: 88 years

The late Max Julien was an actor, sculptor, and fashion designer best known for his role as Goldie in the blaxploitation film The Mack. Julien has also appeared in Def Jam's How to Be a Player.

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At 88, he suffered cardiopulmonary arrest and died at his Los Angeles home, where he had been living with his wife, Arabella.

24. Ricky Harris

• Full name: Richard George Harris II
• Year of birth: 1962
• Date of death: 26 December 2016
• Age at death: 54 years

Richard George Harris II was a producer, actor, and comedian. He was known for his role as Malvo in the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. Harris also appeared on Moesha before appearing in the Sundance hit Dope. In December 2016, he was pronounced dead at 54 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

What black actor died in 2024?

The black actors who passed away in 2024 include O.J. Simpson, Chance Perdomo, Louis Gossett Jr., Hinton Battle, and Carl Weathers.

What black actress died recently?

The black actresses who died recently include Sonya Eddy, Nichelle Nichols, and Mary Alice.

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Who passed away recently in 2024?

O.J. Simpson, Chance Perdomo, Louis Gossett Jr., Hinton Battle, and Carl Weathers are among the people who passed away in 2024.

Who was the most famous black actor?

The greatest and most famous black actors include Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman, Cuba Gooding Jr., Will Smith, Mekhi Phifer, and Laurence Fishburne.

The famous black actors who died recently left a big gap in the acting industry and in their fans' hearts.

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Source: YEN.com.gh