US actor Lance Reddick, star of The Wire and John Wick, dies at 60

Lance Reddick, a character actor who specialised in intense, icy and possibly sinister authority figures on television and film, including The Wire, Fringe and the John Wick franchise, has died. He was 60.

Reddick died “suddenly” on Friday morning, his publicist Mia Hansen said in a statement, attributing his death to natural causes. His death was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.com.

Reddick was often put in a suit or a crisp uniform during his career, playing tall taciturn and elegant men of distinction. He was best known for his role as strait-laced Lieutenant Cedric Daniels on the hit HBO series The Wire, where his character was agonisingly trapped in the messy politics of the Baltimore police department.

“I’m an artist at heart. I feel that I’m very good at what I do. When I went to drama school, I knew I was at least as talented as other students, but because I was a black man and I wasn’t pretty, I knew I would have to work my butt off to be the best that I would be, and to be noticed,” he told the Los Angeles Times newspaper in 2009.

Reddick also starred on the Fox series Fringe as a special agent Phillip Broyles, the smartly dressed Matthew Abaddon on Lost and played the multi-skilled Continental Hotel concierge Charon in the John Wick films, including the fourth in the series opening this month

He earned a SAG Award nomination in 2021 as part of the ensemble for Regina King’s film One Night in Miami. Reddick played recurring roles on Intelligence and American Horror Story and was on the show Bosch for its seven-year run.

His coming projects included 20th Century’s remake of White Men Can’t Jump and Shirley, Netflix’s biopic of former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. He was also expected to appear in the John Wick spin-off Ballerina, as well as The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.