Tony Todd, the “Candyman” star who appeared in more than 240 films and TV shows, died on November 6. He was 69.

The actor’s reps confirmed the news of his death to TheWrap; no information about the cause has been made public. The actor was “a wonderful man and I will miss him every day,” Jeffrey Goldberg, Todd’s manager of more than 40 years, told TheWrap.

Todd played the role of the killer in “Candyman” and its sequel, but the actor’s prolific career has included arcs in “The Young and the Restless” and “24,” as well as episodes of “Hawaii Five-0 ‘, ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’. ‘ and ‘Young Justice’.

Todd also starred in several ‘Star Trek’ shows, including ‘The Next Generation’, ‘Voyager’ and ‘Deep Space Nine’. In the “Star Trek” franchise, he is best known for his role as Klingon Kurn, the brother of Worf (Michael Dorn).

In a 1998 interview with Whoosh! Todd said that “Star Trek” was “the first show that gave me access to the fandom, so I’m forever grateful.” He also admitted that while he “didn’t wake up one day and try to be part of the sci-fi/fantasy universe,” he wasn’t unhappy with the direction his career had taken.

Todd also enjoyed a healthy career on stage after training at Trinity Rep Conservatory in Providence, Rhode Island. He told the outlet that he planned to do one play a year. “It’s honest work. It is more direct and interactive,” he explained. “It’s just real. You have a rehearsal period of six weeks, unlike television where you basically have to rehearse alone. On TV you just show up and do it. In theater you learn to put more time into the material before you appear on set.”

The actor’s big break came when he was cast in Oliver Stone’s 1986 Vietnam War film ‘Platoon’. In 2020, he told The Guardian that filming the movie was difficult for each of the stars. “I’m not going to name names,” Todd said, “but I saw grown men crying.” The film also starred Charlie Sheen, Johnny Depp, Forest Whitaker and Willem Dafoe.

Todd again credited his background in theater with helping him win the role of Sergeant Warren. He said Stone “wanted real faces. So it helped that I got out of theater and out of poverty.” Stone even cast Todd after seeing him perform a one-man show of Dalton Trumbo’s anti-war novel “Johnny Got His Gun at a Hell’s Kitchen.”

He was best known for his role as The Candyman in the 1992 film ‘Candyman’, a film in which he was cast after the 1990 remake ‘Night of the Living Dead’. He played the ghost of Daniel Robitaille, a man whose parents were enslaved. Robitaille was murdered by a mob after he started dating a white woman; the site of his death eventually became the site of a public housing project where several unexplained murders occurred.

The character is one that stuck with audiences for years after the release of the first film. While promoting the 2021 sequel, Todd explained to Dread Central that he felt his character was “a gothic character.”

“I compare him to Phantom because he is a misunderstood character who is looking for love. Bernard (Rose) and Virginia Madsen and I reinforced that by practicing Gothic art,” he added. “We did horse riding, fencing, ballroom dancing. We wanted to see centuries of passion between us, centuries of regret, centuries of loss, every time she and I were in the same frame.

He also admitted that people were sometimes scared when they met him in person. “I’ve had that happen a few times where a partner in the couple comes up to me and says, ‘Oh, my wife or my husband is terrified of you!’ And the other partner will just stand there. So I’ll say, ‘Well, it’s a character. Here I am.’ I think I’m one of the most approachable people I know, and speak like a true sociopath. There is nothing to be afraid of. Approach me.”

Tony Todd was born on December 4, 1954 in Washington DC and raised in Hartford, Connecticut. He attended the University of Connecticut and studied theater at the Eugene O’Neill National Actors Theater Institute.

His additional roles included ‘The Crow’, ‘The Rock’, the series ‘Final Destination’ and ‘Minotaur’. He also starred in several Broadway and off-Broadway productions, including “King Hedley II,” “No Place to be Somebody,” and “Dark Paradise, Aida.”

Todd also played several characters within the ‘Star Trek’ universe. These include Worf’s brother Kurn in “The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine” and the adult Jake Sisko in “Deep Space Nine.”

Tony Todd is survived by his children, Alex and Ariana.

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