Tony Todd dead - Star of Candyman and Final Destination dies at 69

Actor Tony Todd who played the titular killer in classic horror film Candyman has died at the age of 69.

Todd died on Wednesday at home in Los Angeles after a long illness, his wife, Fatima, confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter on Friday. As well as starring in the 1992 supernatural horror Candyman, Todd also appeared in 1996’s The Rock opposite Nicolas Cage and played funeral home owner William Bludworth in the F inal Destination franchise.

On television, Todd appeared in many popular series, including 24, The X-Files, 21 Jump Street, Law & Order, Beverly Hills 90210, Xena: Warrior Princess and Murder, She Wrote. He also played multiple roles in Star Trek including the Klingon Kurn, brother of Worf, in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

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However, horror movie fans will know him best as hook-handed killer in Candyman who appears when someone repeats his name five times before a mirror. Todd had over 200 acting credits to his name and used his fame for social change, including putting on acting seminars for underprivileged children, but joked all people wanted to talk to him about was Candyman.

“I’ve done 200 movies, this is the one that stays in people’s minds. It affects people of all races," Todd said. "I’ve used it as an introductory tool in gang-intervention work: what frightens you? What horrible things have you experienced?”

In the movie, Todd’s character Daniel Robitaille was lynched by a white mob on the spot where a public housing project is later built, which he haunts. In 2019 Todd told the Guardian that he was paid $1,000 extra each time he was stung by a bee in one of the film’s most famous scene. “And I got stung 23 times. Everything that’s worth making has to involve some sort of pain," he recalled.

The character originated in Clive Barker's 1985 short story "The Forbidden". In the film series, he is depicted as an African-American man who was brutally murdered for a forbidden 19th-century interracial love affair who returns as an urban legend seeking vengeance.

Following the huge success of the first movie, Todd replied his leading role in Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, 1995, and Candyman: Day of the Dead, 1999. Todd returned to the role in 2021's Candyman, a sequel to the original 1992 movie.

Following news of Todd's death today, his Candyman co-star Virginia Madsen responded by posting an emotional Instagram video confessing: 'I don't know what to say right now.'

In her caption, she wrote: "My beloved. May you rest in power sweet to the sweet in heaven. The great actor Tony Todd has left us and now is an angel. As he was in life. More later but I can’t right now. I love you. #candyman."

In the video, Madsen said, “Hey you guys, I just, just, just found out about Tony, and I will — I don’t know what to say right now. But yeah, I know about it. I will say more about my beloved Candyman. Anyway, thanks for your kind wishes.”

In the movie Madsen played sceptical grad student Helen Lyle, who becomes stalked by the titular hook-wielding ghost (played by Todd) while investigating urban legends at a Chicago housing project.

Todd’s rep previously confirmed that he died “peacefully” at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday, Nov. 6, but they did not provide a cause of death.

Candyman is often ranked as one of the great slasher movies and is considered a contemporary horror movie classic by critics. It was also a commercial success, grossing over $25 million in the US. While the 2021 reboot of Candyman was a box office success, grossing $77 million worldwide against a $25 million budget. It opened with $22.4 million over the weekend, which was higher than expected for an R-rated film during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, Todd spoke about what it meant to be in "one of the first African Americans in a horror film that does not enslave us" in an interview with Entertainment Tonight to mark the 30th anniversary of the original Candyman.

“When I first read it, I looked for those traps,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that if you’re going to be one of the first significant Black actors in a horror film, you better make sure that it’s complete, that it tells a story from beginning to middle and end, and that’s what I saw in the script.” He added that he is “proud” of the original film and its lasting relevance. “I’m glad to have been a part of it, it’s part of my legacy and I’ve been working nonstop for 30 years,” Todd said. “It’s a good thing.”

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