There’s sad news to report today, as it has been confirmed that NFL player turned actor Brad William Henke has passed away at the age of 56. A cause of death has not been revealed, but Deadline reports that Henke’s family said he died in his sleep on November 29th.
Born in Nebraska on April 10, 1966, Henke played football at the University of Arizona before being drafted by the New York Giants in 1989. He got cut during training camp, but was able to move over to the Denver Broncos, where he ended up facing off with the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl XXIV. Following multiple injuries and six ankle surgeries, Henke retired from professional football in 1994 and got his acting career started the same year. After doing some work in commercials, he earned his first screen acting credit with the 1996 comedy Mr. Wrong. That same year he also appeared in Tony Scott’s The Fan, Space Jam, and episodes of Chicago Hope, Silk Stalkings, and Nash Bridges.
Henke racked up a total of 99 credits since ’96. Among them were Arli$$, ER, The Thirteenth Floor, Gone in 60 Seconds, Nikki, Going to California, Crossing Jordan, Judging Amy, CSI, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Must Love Dogs, The Zodiac, North Country, Sherrybaby, World Trade Center, Hollywoodland, Altered, Cold Case, October Road, Law & Order, Choke, Star Trek 2009, CSI: Miami, Party Down, Royal Pains, Criminal Minds, The Chicago Code, Shameless, Memphis Beat, Grimm, Bones, The Office, The Frozen Ground, Castle, Longmire, Pacific Rim, The Bridge, Fury, Hawaii Five-O, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, The Night Shift, Bright, MacGyver, Wounds, Manhunt, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and M. Night Shyamalan’s Split. His acting career was definitely a success.
Henke played the character Tony Tucci on 4 episodes of Dexter, was Bram on 6 episodes of Lost, and Coover Bennett on 7 episodes of Justified. He may be best known for playing the villainous prison guard Desi Piscatella on 26 episodes of Orange Is the New Black.
He also took on the challenge of playing the character Tom Cullen in the 2020 mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand. Bill Fagerbakke had given a very endearing performance as Tom in the 1994 version of The Stand, but Henke was able to put his own spin on the character and make his version of Tom very endearing as well.
Henke ran into some health issues in 2021, when he needed heart surgery to deal with a blocked artery. He also lost his spleen and half his pancreas in the removal of a golf ball-sized tumor. But there was no cancer and he was good to go after that.
Henke was preceded in death by his father Bill, and paid tribute to him by including William in his professional name. He is survived by his mother Tammy, his sister Annette, his wife Sonja, stepson Aaden, stepdaughter Leasa, and grandchild Amirah.
Our sincere condolences go out to Brad William Henke’s family, friends, and fans.