Actor David McKnight, best known for his lead role in the 1976 blaxploitation horror movie J.D.’s Revenge, as well as brief parts in TV hits such as The Commish and Boston Legal, has died. He was 87. According to his friend and publicist Cynthia Busby, per The Hollywood Reporter, McKnight passed away on Sunday (December 3) in Las Vegas, Nevada, after a battle with cancer. Born on July 2, 1936, in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, McKnight served in the U.S. Army and worked as a police officer before he began his acting career. One of his first on-screen roles came in 1970 when he starred on Wttw Chicago’s Birds of the Iron Feather, the first all-Black TV soap opera. His career took off from there, appearing in films such as The Candidate (1972) and Lifeguard (1976) before landing the lead role of J.D. Walker in Arthur Marks’ cult favorite J.D.’s Revenge in 1976. Throughout the 1980s, McKnight featured in various TV series,...
- 12/8/2023
- TV Insider
David McKnight, who portrayed the title character in the cult blaxploitation horror classic J.D.’s Revenge and appeared in Hollywood Shuffle and The Five Heartbeats for Robert Townsend, has died. He was 87.
McKnight died Sunday of cancer in Las Vegas, his friend and publicist Cynthia Busby told The Hollywood Reporter.
McKnight also showed up on dozens of TV shows, from Kojak, Hill Street Blues, The Incredible Hulk, Dynasty and Benson to Moonlighting, 227, Roc, L.A. Law and The District.
In the New Orleans-set J.D.’s Revenge (1976), directed by Arthur Marks, McKnight played a deceased hustler who takes over the body of a college student (Glynn Turman) and goes after the man who murdered him and his sister 30 years earlier.
In a 2018 interview, McKnight said that he first met Townsend when the first-time feature filmmaker was putting together Hollywood Shuffle (1987) and offered him advice.
He was then hired to play Uncle Ray,...
McKnight died Sunday of cancer in Las Vegas, his friend and publicist Cynthia Busby told The Hollywood Reporter.
McKnight also showed up on dozens of TV shows, from Kojak, Hill Street Blues, The Incredible Hulk, Dynasty and Benson to Moonlighting, 227, Roc, L.A. Law and The District.
In the New Orleans-set J.D.’s Revenge (1976), directed by Arthur Marks, McKnight played a deceased hustler who takes over the body of a college student (Glynn Turman) and goes after the man who murdered him and his sister 30 years earlier.
In a 2018 interview, McKnight said that he first met Townsend when the first-time feature filmmaker was putting together Hollywood Shuffle (1987) and offered him advice.
He was then hired to play Uncle Ray,...
- 12/7/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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