This has been a very tough week.  For reasons I don’t want to get into now, I wasn’t intending to write anything at this time. In fact, I was in the middle of a much-needed break. But then I read that actor Tony Todd passed away, and it was my motive to exit my ennui and give a much deserved tribute to this brilliant actor, whom I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with five years ago at a local horror convention. 

Tony Todd arguably found his greatest fame in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” and as the titular “Candyman” in the sociopolitical horror franchise.  Todd also had memorable roles in the Oscar-winning Oliver Stone film “Platoon” (1986), 1990’s underrated remake of “Night of the Living Dead” (I have a story about that one in a minute), Alex Proyas’ “The Crow” (1994), and a supporting role in the only Michael Bay movie I truly enjoy; 1996’s “The Rock.”  Todd’s height (6’ 5”), deep voice, and simmering energy allowed him to play villains and heroes with equal intensity.  His performance as “Candyman” is both menacing and elegant.

More recently, I also enjoyed his performance in a 2007 made-for-video movie based on the late sci-fi author Jerome Bixby’s “The Man From Earth,” where Todd played a curious college professor who suspects a retiring colleague of being a closeted immortal.  This little-seen movie feels more like a stage play, taking place over the course of a single evening in one setting between a group of middle-aged academics. Yet the movie is also a surprisingly engaging epic—spanning tens of thousands of years in one man’s life. Well worth seeking out.

As a Star Trek fan, I loved Tony Todd’s recurring role as Kurn; the long-lost brother of Klingon Starfleet officer Worf. However, I was even more impressed by Todd’s heartbreaking guest role an older Jake Sisko in DS9’s “The Visitor.” In that fan-favorite episode, we see Jake Sisko growing up in an alternate lifetime separated from his beloved father, Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), who is trapped in a bubble universe and presumed dead.  Todd’s role in that episode, performed under various age makeups, would doubtless qualify for an Emmy if it weren’t in a pop sci-fi TV series (there was a much greater bias against sci-fi TV and movies in those days; and arguably so today as well). 

Around the time of the actor’s appearances in Star Trek, I recall renting 1990’s “Night of the Living Dead” remake on a VHS tape, and his performance as the protagonist Ben really leaped off the screen (along with Patricia Tallman’s new take-charge version of Barbara). A moment of the film I remember vividly sees Ben attempting to fortify an abandoned farmhouse he and Barbara have holed up in. Ben is forced to slay a zombie, and as he drags the re-killed corpse outside, the exhausted man looks pleadingly upward and shouts “GOD DAMN YOU!!” to the sky above. It’s a powerful moment that instantly makes the character Tony Todd’s, with no disrespect to his memorable predecessor, Duane Jones (1937-1988).

When I met Todd at the “Darkside in Riverside” horror convention five years ago, we had a few minutes to chat. As he autographed my copy of the Deep Space Nine Companion, Todd and I began talking about “Night of the Living Dead,” and I asked him how it felt stepping into Duane Jones’ iconic role from such a beloved classic.  Todd told me that he first saw the 1968 original when he was 14-years old; watching it at a drive-in theater from the back of a pickup truck (yes, we rode in the backs of pickup trucks in those days).  

What Todd told me next was the most fascinating part of our talk; he told me he was so inspired by Duane Jones’ groundbreaking performance as a Black leading man in a horror movie that he vowed to play that very role someday. I asked if he meant a role like Ben, and he said no; he was going to play Ben himself.  Sure enough.  The actor answered the casting call for director/makeup-genius Tom Savini’s remake, and after the audition, he knew the role was his. Through his skill, Todd managed to make that iconic role both respectful to his predecessor while adding his own indelible magic to it.

I’ve seen Todd at a few other conventions since (most recently at CreepIECon Aftermath 2023), and he always had healthy queues of fans all waiting for his autograph.  It’s painful to think that fans like myself won’t have the chance to stop by his table again to say hello, or to ask him about his other memorable roles in film and television. This unique talent will be keenly missed, and he left us much too early. As of this writing, Tony Todd’s death has not been disclosed, and he leaves behind a sister and two children.

Rest in power, Tony Todd.

December 4th, 1954—November 6th, 2024.