Tony Todd

Perhaps best known as the hook-handed horror film villain "The Candyman" (1992), this imposing, booming-voiced actor has capitalized on his physical assests--he's 6'5"--to appear in a wealth of science fiction, fantasy and horror movies and television series, yet has also proven quite effective as a dramatic actor in more serious fare. Classically trained in the theater, Todd got his first major entree into Hollywood when writer-director Oliver Stone saw his performance in "Johnny Got His Gun" at New York's Westbank Theater and cast the actor as Sgt. Warren in Stone's breakthrough film "Platoon" (1986). Todd subsequently appeared regularly in guest spots on various television series in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and developed a cult fan following beginning in 1990 when he took on the recurring role of Klingon Commander Kurn, the long-lost brother of the Enterprise's Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn), on several episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Todd would appear again as Kurn on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," a series in which he also previously played a human: the adult version of young series regular Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) in the highly-regarded 1995 episode "The Visitor." The actor would later earn the rare distinction of appearing on three different "Star Trek" series as three different characters when he appeared as an alien game hunter on "Star Trek: Voyager" in 1998.

Todd's major foray into horror began in 1992 when he was cast as the murderous Candyman, a role he reprised in two sequels, and he soon became a familiar presence in genre films such as "Wishmaster" and the remake of "Night of the Living Dead" along with TV series including "The X-Files," "Hercules," "Xena: Warrior Princess," "Babylon 5," "Angel," "Andromeda" and "Smallville." But he also landed several straightforward, non-genre parts, including the title role as Black Fox in a series of 1995 CBS TV Westerns in which he co-starred with Christopher Reeve, and "The Truman Show." Todd bolstered his Hollywood career with acclaimed turns on the stage, including originating the lead role in Athol Fugard's 1998 play "The Captain's Tiger," for which Todd was nominated for a Helen Hayes award, and in August Wilson's 1999 play "King Hedley II." Todd added a second horror film fixture to his resume when he was cast as the bizarre mortician Bill Bludworth in "Final Destination" (2000), a role he reprised in the 2003 sequel, and he found yet another popular recurring role on television when he was cast as Lester Lipschultz, the illegitimate son of venerable teacher Harvey Lipschultz (Fyvush Finkel), on David E. Kelley's Fox TV drama "Boston Public."

• Born:
  December 4, 1954 in Washington, DC, United States
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Playwriting instructor

Family

• Aunt: Clara.

Education

• University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
• Eugene O Neill National Theatre Institute, Waterford, Connecticut

Milestones

• 1986 Appeared as Sgt. Warren in director Oliver Stone s Vietnam war drama Platoon ; cast after Stone saw his performance on stage in Johnny Got His Gun
• 1986 Film debut in the fantasy thriller Sleepwalk
• 1987 Began appearing regularly in guests spots on network series such as Simon & Simon, Kate & Allie, Night Court, MacGuyver, Murder She Wrote and Law & Order
• 1988 Appeared in the urban police-gang drama Colors opposite Sean Penn for director Dennis Hopper
• 1988 Joined the cast of Clint Eastwood s jazz biopic Bird
• 1989 Played the dean of security in John Avildson s inner-city school drama Lean on Me
• 1990 Originated the recurring role of the Klingon Commander Kurn, Lt. Worf s long-lost brother, on Star Trek: The Next Generation ; later played an adult Jake Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the well-regarded episode The Visitor (1990); and appeared as the alien Alpha Hirogen in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager (1998)
• 1990 Played the lead in director Tom Savini s remake of George Romero s Night of the Living Dead
• 1992 Originated the title role of hook-handed killer Daniel Robitaille in the horror film Candyman ; reprised the role for the 1995 sequel Candyman II: Farewell to the Flesh and the straight-to-cable Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999)
• 1994 Appeared in three episodes of Homicide: Life On the Street playing TV reporter Matt Rhodes
• 1994 Appeared on various science fiction and fantasy TV series, including The X-Files, Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess, Babylon 5, Angel, Smallville and Andromeda
• 1995 Co-starred with Christopher Reeve in the CBS TV Western Black Fox playing former slave Britt Black Fox Johnson, who tries to broker peace between homesteaders and Native Americans; followed by two TV sequels, Black Fox: The Price of Peace and Black Fox: Good Men and Bad (both 1995)
• 1996 Played Captain Darrow in director Michael Bay s The Rock
• 1996 Starred in UPN s alien invasion-themed TV pilot-turned-telepic Them
• 1997 Appeared in the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame miniseries True Women about the women who helped settle Texas
• 1997 Played Johnny Valentine in the supernatural thriller Wes Craven Presents Wishmaster
• 1997 Starred in the mockumentary Univers l which satirized the 1992 Los Angeles riots
• 1998 Appeared in the straight-to-video music industry murder mystery Butter
• 1998 Appeared with Bokeem Woodbine, Cynda Williams and Snoop Dogg in the urban drama Caught Up
• 1998 Originated the lead role on stage for Athol Fugard s The Captain s Tiger ; nominated for a Helen Hayes Award
• 1998 Small role in The Truman Show opposite Jim Carrey
• 1999 Originated the title role in August Wilson s stage play King Hedley II in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• 2000 Appeared in the Cannes-screened Le Secret
• 2000 Co-starred in the indie comedy The Dogwalker
• 2000 First appeared as the prescient mortician Bludworth in the horror film Final Destination ; reprised the role for the 2003 sequel Final Destination 2
• 2002 Begins recurring role as Lester Lipschultz, the illegitmate son of teacher Harvey Lipschultz (Fyvush Finkle) on Fox s public school drama Boston Public ; also guests on episodes of series such as Crossing Jordan and CSI: Miami
• 2003 Appeared in the Sci-Fi channel s original film Control Factor