Reg E. Cathey, best known for his work on THE WIRE, HOUSE OF CARDS and in movies like FANTASTIC FOUR, passed away yesterday at the age of 59. The actor was reportedly battling lung cancer (via Variety).
Cathey was born in Huntsville, Alabama and spent some time living in West Germany as a child while his father was an Army Colonel officer. He then went on to act in plays while in high school, and then studied theatre at the University of Michigan and at the Yale School of Drama.
He began his long, award-winning career in television appearing on shows like SQUARE ONE, GREAT PERFORMANCES, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, and ER. He made a breakthrough on the show OZ, playing Martin Querns across 8 Episodes. He also made a name for himself on David Simon’s THE WIRE as politician Norman Wilson across 23 episodes. He received his most acclaim and attention for his work as BBQ shop owner and later White House worker Freddy Hayes on HOUSE OF CARDS. He won his first Emmy for his work out of a total of three nominations for the show. His most recent TV credit was for the HBO Oprah Winfrey movie, THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS.
In terms of movie work, you may recognize him from numerous films, including BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, WHAT ABOUT BOB?, as henchman Freeze in 1994’s THE MASK, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, as a mortician in David Fincher’s SE7EN, the homeless man Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) killed in AMERICAN PSYCHO, S.W.A.T. and, most recently, as Franklin Storm in 2015’s FANTASTIC FOUR.
Netflix put out a statement after his death saying, “We are heartbroken by the passing of our friend and House of Cards colleague Reg E. Cathey. Reg was the kindest man, the most giving actor, a true gentleman. Our sympathy goes to his family.”
Several celebrities including HOUSE OF CARDS creator Beau Willimon, David Simon, and Mahershala Ali all took to social media to pay their respects.
Like many people, I discovered Cathey for the first time on HOC, and was immediately taken by both his presence and deep baritone voice. He had so much more to give as an actor and to add to his already impressive and long resume. He will be missed.