Unfortunately, we recently lost an absolute legend with the passing of Tony Todd. His voice and presence are unmatched in the horror genre and has been a wonderful constant for over 30 years. Whenever an iconic actor passes, I think a great way to remember them is to look back on some of their greatest performances/movies. After all, this is their life’s work and clearly something they were very passionate about. But when it comes to Tony Todd, where do you even start?
Looking at his filmography can be overwhelming, given the sheer volume of films that the man starred in. One of the main traits of his roles is that he may hardly get any screen time in them, yet he manages to be the most intriguing character around. And while it’s not horror, I want to make sure to shout out his many wonderful TV appearances over the years, whether it’s on Star Trek: The Next Generation, The X-Files, or even The Flash, his voice elevates the material. So join us here at JoBlo.com as we get into our favorite Tony Todd films to watch in remembrance of such a fantastic actor.
I’ve always considered these to be mini-movies, especially considering the talent behind the camera, so we’re going to include it anyway. Coming from the second season of Masters of Horror, Mick Garris directed this episode based on a short story by Clive Barker. It follows a novelist as he moves into a new building to finish his first novel. But a mysterious girl keeps coming to him and complaining of The Beast, a mysterious creature in the building. Todd plays the Beast and is mostly just a great visual versus spouting lines with his iconic voice.
Bludworth is one of the only constants we had in the Final Destination franchise (despite missing out on one film and only appearing as a voice in FD3). His morgue character is able to provide a bit of exposition yet it’s always done in such an ominous way due to Todd’s booming voice. It’ll be nice to see Todd return in Final Destination: Bloodlines next year. Will be a great sendoff for the actor.
Everyone knows The Crow for Brandon Lee’s fantastic performance and the wonderful visuals by Alex Proyas. But there’s a side character that makes all of his screen time memorable: Tony Todd’s Grange. He’s Top Dollar’s second in command and has such a striking look to him. Then when he and Michael Wincott speak to each other it’s like a cacophony of wonderful gravely tones. Plus, when has a fedora ever looked so cool?
It’s hard to imagine anyone filling the shoes of Duane Jones character of Ben from the original NOTLD. Yet Todd does a fantastic job, giving different shades to a familiar character. He’s immediately an anchor that the other characters can follow (even if some of them don’t). This role really highlights how much Todd’s presence can positively affect the on-screen vibe of your horror film.
Todd’s seminal role that spawned a franchise doesn’t even feature a ton of screentime for Tony, yet his presence is certainly felt. With so many memorable lines, this serves as a great way to modernize an old urban legend. While some of the sequels go a little off the rails, Todd’s performance is still great as it always seems like he’s having an absolute blast.
What is YOUR favorite Tony Todd movie? Which is your favorite performance? Let us know in the comments!