Died at 71
male
Tony Todd (December 4, 1954 – November 6, 2024) was an acclaimed American actor known for his deep, resonant voice and imposing screen presence. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, Todd trained in theatre at the University of Connecticut and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, building a foundation for his later work both on stage and screen. Todd's film career began in the mid-1980s with supporting roles in films like "Platoon" (1986) and "Sleepwalk" (1986). He rose to prominence for his starring role as Ben in "Night of the Living Dead" (1990) before achieving iconic status as the title character in the horror classic "Candyman" (1992), a role he would reprise in several sequels. His film credits also include "The Crow" (1994), "The Rock" (1996), "Wishmaster" (1997), and his recurring role as William Bludworth in the "Final Destination" series (2000–2025). In television, Todd was widely recognized for his recurring roles across the Star Trek franchise—most notably as Kurn, Worf's brother, in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," as well as other roles in "Star Trek: Voyager." He also made memorable appearances on shows like "Boston Public," "24," "The X-Files," "Smallville," and "Law & Order". Beyond live-action roles, Todd was a prolific voice actor. He contributed to the Half-Life video game series as the Vortigaunts, voiced The Fallen in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (2009), Zoom in "The Flash" (2014–2023), and played Venom in "Marvel's Spider-Man 2" (2023), for which he earned a BAFTA Games Award nomination. Todd’s theatre credentials were equally impressive, including starring roles in Broadway and regional productions such as August Wilson's "King Hedley II," "The Captain's Tiger," "Othello," and "Aida." His voice, physical stature, and range earned him critical acclaim and a lasting legacy in horror, science fiction, and dramatic arts. Tony Todd died from stomach cancer at his home in Marina del Rey, California, on November 6, 2024, at the age of 69. He had reportedly been quietly battling this illness during his final projects. Both "Final Destination: Bloodlines" and "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" were dedicated to his memory.
Tony Todd
Shockwave
for Shockwave in TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (SOMMERS' DIRECTION)
Suggested by ivaneavendano
Alternate real life production history: Major hurdles for the film's initial production stages included the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike as well as the threat of strikes by other guilds, Michael Bay made the hard discission to step down as Director of the Second Transformers Film, telling Paramount that it was too big of a risk, The Film's writer Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and Composer Steve Jablonsky also left the project, for the same reasons as Michael Bay. Paramount ultimately ended up hiring Stephen Sommers to Write to Direct the Film, Resulting in Chris Columbus and Joss Whedon taking over as Director and Writer of Sommers' other film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Sommers wrote a Decent, Emotional and compelling Script which was the only draft made and was used as the Final film. This also resulted in all the first film's Voice Cast (with the only exception of Peter Cullen) being recast, including Mark Ryan being replaced as Bumblebee by Johnny Yong Bosch, Robert Foxworth being replaced as Ratchet by Alun Armstrong, Jess Harnell being replaced as Ironhide by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (due to the discission of wanting Ironhide with a birtish accent), Hugo Weaving being replaced as Megatron by Arnold Vosloo (who had worked with Sommers on the Mummy), Charlie Adler being replaced as Starscream by Michael Wincott.
