Here's What I Found Under "R.I.P."

Les McCann (1935-2023)

Les McCann (1935-2023)

By Jem Aswad | Variety Les McCann, the legendary jazz pianist who has been sampled countless times and is perhaps best known for the protest song “Compared to What,” died Friday at a Los Angeles area hospital, his manager confirmed. No cause of death was announced,...

read more
Maurice Hines (1943-2023)

Maurice Hines (1943-2023)

By Pat Saperstein | Variety Maurice Hines, an actor, dancer and choreographer who starred with his brother Gregory Hines in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Cotton Club,” died Friday. He was 80. Friends including Debbie Allen and John Manzari reported the news of his...

read more
Mbongeni Ngema (1955-2023)

Mbongeni Ngema (1955-2023)

By Jake Kanter | Deadline Mbongeni Ngema, the South African creator of Whoopi Goldberg film Sarafina!, has died in a car accident. He was aged 68. Ngema’s family announced his death in a statement, revealing that he was killed in a head-on collision December 27 while...

read more
Bobby Rivers (1953-2023)

Bobby Rivers (1953-2023)

By Armando Tinoco | Deadline Bobby Rivers, an entertainment reporter and television personality on the Food Network and VH1, has died. He was 70. ABC affiliate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, WISN 12, shared the news about Rivers. The on-air host joined the station in 1979...

read more
Andre Braugher (1962-2023)

Andre Braugher (1962-2023)

By Agency News Desk | GlamSham Actor Andre Braugher, who is known for his roles in ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ and ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ has passed away at the age of 61 after a recent illness. Andre played Frank Pemberton in ‘Homicide’, earning his first Emmy win...

read more
David McKnight (1936-2023)

David McKnight (1936-2023)

By Bruce Haring | Deadline David McKnight, whose film resume included starring as the lead in the blaxploitation horror movie J.D.’s Revenge, as well as Robert Townsend’s Hollywood Shuffle and The Five Heartbeats, died Sunday at age 87. McKnight passed from cancer in...

read more
Benjamin Zephaniah (1958-2023)

Benjamin Zephaniah (1958-2023)

By Jesse Whittock | Deadline Celebrated British poet Benjamin Zephaniah died today, eight weeks after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was 65. His death was confirmed in a post on his Instagram account. The poet, who was also an actor in BBC drama Peaky...

read more
Ellen Holly (1931-2023)

Ellen Holly (1931-2023)

By Bruce Haring | Deadline Ellen Holly, the first Black person to star in a soap opera with her lead role on One Life to Live, died Wednesday at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, N.Y. She was 92 and died in her sleep. Her first roles on television included appearances...

read more
Charles Officer (1975-2023)

Charles Officer (1975-2023)

By Bruce Haring | Deadline Charles Officer, known as one of the leaders in Black Canadian independent film, has died. He was 49 and succumbed at his home in Toronto Friday from complications from a heart attack. Officer had been battling what’s been described as a...

read more
Jean Knight (1943-2023)

Jean Knight (1943-2023)

By Zac Ntim | Deadline Jean Knight, the voice behind “Mr. Big Stuff,” one of the most recognizable songs of the 1970s funk era, has died of natural causes. She was 80. Knight’s longtime publicist confirmed her death with multiple media outlets. Bernie Cyrus, executive...

read more
Taraja Ramsess (1982-2023)

Taraja Ramsess (1982-2023)

By Bruce Haring | Deadline Taraja Ramsess, a stuntman in Black Panther, The Avengers and many other films, was killed alongside two of his children in a car crash on Halloween night on an Atlanta highway, according to reporting by local affiliate WSB-TV. Ramsess...

read more
Richard Roundtree (1942-2023)

Richard Roundtree (1942-2023)

By J. Kim Murphy | Variety Richard Roundtree, an icon of Blaxploitation film who starred as detective John Shaft in Gordon Parks’ 1971 action thriller, died Tuesday afternoon after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81 years old. His death was confirmed by...

read more