Lance Reddick, actor in “The Wire” and “John Wick” movies, dies at age 60

Lance Reddick, an actor known for his roles in the HBO police drama “The Wire” and the “John Wick” action movies, has died, his representative Mia Hansen confirmed to CBS News. He was 60.

The actor died suddenly Friday morning of natural causes, Hansen said in a statement.

In the “John Wick” franchise, Reddick played the concierge Charon of the Continental hotel organization that provides sanctuary to assassins. The fourth installment of the series is set to be released next week with Keanu Reeves playing the title role.

Reddick was often put in a suit or a crisp uniform during his career, playing tall taciturn and elegant men of distinction. He was best known for his role as straight-laced Lt. Cedric Daniels on “The Wire,” where his character was agonizingly trapped in the messy politics of the police department in Baltimore, which was Reddick’s hometown.

In a Twitter post, Wendell Pierce, his co-star on “The Wire,” called Reddick’s death a “painful grief for our artistic family.”

A man of great strength and grace. As talented a musician as he was an actor. The epitome of class. An sudden unexpected sharp painful grief for our artistic family. An unimaginable suffering for his personal family and loved ones. Godspeed my friend. You made your mark here. RIP pic.twitter.com/Xy0pl5c4NR

— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) March 17, 2023

Filmmaker James Gunn called Reddick “an incredibly nice guy, and an incredibly talented actor” in a tweet.

Lance Reddick was an incredibly nice guy, and an incredibly talented actor. This is heartbreaking. My love goes out to all his family, friends, and collaborators.

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) March 17, 2023

Reddick also starred on the Fox series “Fringe” as special agent Phillip Broyles, and he played the smartly dressed Matthew Abaddon on “Lost.”

“I’m an artist at heart. I feel that I’m very good at what I do. When I went to drama school, I knew I was at least as talented as other students, but because I was a Black man and I wasn’t pretty, I knew I would have to work my butt off to be the best that I would be, and to be noticed,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2009.

He earned a SAG Award nomination in 2021 as part of the ensemble for Regina King’s film “One Night in Miami.” Reddick played recurring roles on “Intelligence” and “American Horror Story” and was on the show “Bosch” for its seven-year run.

His upcoming projects include 20th Century’s remake of “White Men Can’t Jump” and “Shirley,” Netflix’s biopic of former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. He was also slated to appear in the “John Wick” spinoff “Ballerina,” as well as “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.”

Reddick was a Yale University drama school graduate who enjoyed some success after school by landing guest or recurring roles on “CSI: Miami” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” He also appeared in several movies, including “I Dreamed of Africa,” “The Siege” and “Great Expectations.”

It was on season four of “Oz,” playing a doomed undercover officer sent to prison who becomes an addict, that Reddick had a career breakthrough.

“I was never interested in television. I always saw it as a means to an end. Like so many actors, I was only interested in doing theater and film. But ‘Oz’ changed television. It was the beginning of HBO’s reign on quality, edgy, artistic stuff. Stuff that harkens back to great cinema of the ’60s and ’70s,” he told The Associated Press in 2011.

“When the opportunity for ‘Oz’ came up, I jumped. And when I read the pilot for ‘The Wire,’ as a guy that never wanted to be on television, I realized I had to be on this show.”

Reddick attended the prestigious Eastman School of Music, where he studied classical composition, and he played piano. His first album, the jazzy “Contemplations and Remembrances,” came out in 2011.

Reddick had a recurring role as Jeffrey Tetazoo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, on CBS’ “Intelligence.” On “American Horror Story: Coven,” Reddick portrayed Papa Legba, the go-between between humanity and the spirit world.

He is survived by his wife Stephanie Reddick and children Yvonne Nicole Reddick and Christopher Reddick.