The Atlanta Police Department confirmed to IndieWire that Byrd was shot Saturday at a home in Atlanta. He was pronounced dead on the scene. The investigation is ongoing. Collaboration between Lee and Byrd dates back to Lee’s 1995 crime drama “Clockers.” Lee shared on Instagram two clips from the film featuring Byrd, including one he said was one of his favorite scenes in the movie. The actor most recently worked with Lee in the 2015 gun-violence musical satire “Chi-Raq.” His other notable credits include Lee’s “He Got Game,” in which he performed opposite Milla Jovovich and Denzel Washington and in Taylor Hackford’s Oscar-winning Ray Charles biopic “Ray.”
Byrd also had a fruitful stage career. He earned a 2003 Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his work as Toledo in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” at the Royale Theatre in New York. The play is based on the life of legendary blues musician “Ma” Rainey, played by Whoppi Goldberg. He also earned a Theatre World Award nomination for that role as Rainey’s piano player. Byrd’s most recent project performing in Brett Smith’s Underground Railroad drama “Freedom’s Path.” The film, due out next year, tells the story of a friendship between a Union soldier and a man who had escaped from slavery. He also appeared in the 2020 episode “Family Feud” of Tracy Morgan’s TBS comedy “The Last O.G.”
A post shared by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on Oct 4, 2020 at 10:40am PDT Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
