Actor Michael Wright, best known for his roles in The Five Heartbeats, Sugar Hill, V and Oz, has died in Los Angeles aged 70, per deadline.com.
Wright died August 19, his wife Susan Wright said in a statement shared on Instagram. She said she was sharing the news with “profound sadness and an unimaginable heaviness in my heart.”
Citing a family statement, TMZ reported the cause of death as heart failure complicated by Marchiafava-Bignami disease.
Wright made his screen debut in the 1979 drama The Wanderers. For his second feature, Robert Altman’s Streamers in 1983, he shared the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival with the main ensemble.
He went on to play troubled singer Eddie King Jr., one of the five leads in Robert Townsend’s 1991 musical drama The Five Heartbeats, the role for which he was most widely recognised.
His other film credits included The Principal, Sugar Hill, Money Talks, Point Blank and The Interpreter.
On television, he starred in the 1980s science-fiction franchise V, which spanned two miniseries and a series, and had a major recurring role on HBO’s Oz. His most recent credit was an arc on The CW’s Black Lightning.
In her tribute, Susan Wright described him as a husband, father, grandfather, loved one and friend, and as “an extraordinary artist whose work touched generations.”
•Featured image: Michael Wright
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