Thomas Jefferson Byrd (June 25, 1950 – October 3, 2020) was an American character actor who played in several of director Spike Lee’s films. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in the 2003 Broadway revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Career
Byrd earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Morris Brown College and later received a Master of Fine Arts degree in dance from California Institute of the Arts.
Byrd starred in numerous regional stage productions including the San Diego Repertory Theatre’s award-winning performance of Spunk. He also starred in Home by Samm-Art Evans, Two Trains Running, The Piano Lesson and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at the Alliance Theater, Flyin’ West, Hamlet and Miss Evers’ Boys at the Indiana Repertory, and in other productions of Flyin’ West at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and at the Long Wharf Theatre.
For his Broadway debut, a performance in the 2003 revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Byrd received a Tony Award nomination for best featured actor.
Byrd appeared in several films by Spike Lee, including Clockers, Get on the Bus, Bamboozled, Red Hook Summer, and Chi-Raq. Byrd also appeared as Stokely Darling in Lee’s Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It. His other films credits include Set It Off, Ray, and Brooklyn’s Finest.
Death
After an emergency call was made in Atlanta, Georgia, around 1:45 a.m. on October 3, 2020, Byrd was found unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds in his back and pronounced dead. He was 70. A spokesperson for Atlanta police said that homicide detectives were “working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident”. On October 17, 2020, a 30-year-old man was arrested for having a connection to Byrd’s murder.
Work
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Clockers | Errol Barnes | |
| 1996 | Girl 6 | Caller #18 | |
| 1996 | Get on the Bus | Evan Thomas Sr. | |
| 1996 | Set It Off | Luther | |
| 1997 | Touch Me | Country Doctor | |
| 1998 | He Got Game | Sweetness | |
| 1998 | Bulworth | Uncle Rafeeq | |
| 2000 | Trois | Thomas | |
| 2000 | Bamboozled | Honeycutt | |
| 2001 | MacArthur Park | Cody | |
| 2002 | Never Get Outta the Boat | William Ellis | |
| 2002 | The Kudzu Christmas | Reverend Burton | |
| 2004 | X, Y | Marcus | |
| 2004 | Ray | Jimmy | |
| 2009 | Brooklyn’s Finest | Uncle Jeb | |
| 2010 | Bronx Paradise | Jimmy | |
| 2012 | Red Hook Summer | Deacon Zee | |
| 2014 | Da Sweet Blood of Jesus | Bishop Zee | |
| 2015 | Chi-Raq | Apollo | |
| 2020 | Freedom’s Path | Abner | Posthumous release; Final film role |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | In the Heat of the Night | Louis Arthur | Episode: “Random’s Child” |
| 1993 | I’ll Fly Away: Then and Now | Panhandler | TV movie |
| 1997 | Living Single | Mr. Leon | Episode: “Moonlight Savings Time” |
| 1998 | Mama Flora’s Family | Flora’s Pa | 2 episodes |
| 1999 | Passing Glory | TV movie | |
| 2001 | Boycott | Raymond Parks | TV movie |
| 2004 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Curtis Romney | Episode: “Mad Hops” |
| 2005 | Lackawanna Blues | Numb Finger Pete | TV movie |
| 2017–19 | She’s Gotta Have It | Stokely Darling | 10 episodes |
| 2020 | The Last O.G. | Jimmy | Episode: “Family Feud” |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom | Toledo | Won Theatre World Award Nominated for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Nominated work | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Theatre World Award | Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom | Won | |
| 2003 | Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play | Nominated |
