NELSAN ELLIS

Many of us first got to meet the actor through the popular HBO series, True Blood, where he portrayed the flamboyant character, Lafayette Reynolds. Nelsan Ellis won many accolades for this role, including a Satellite Award from the International Press Academy, NewNowNext Award, and NAACP Image Award. He was also cast in feature films, including roles in Get On Up, the biopic about James Brown, Eddie Sweat in Secretariat, and the legendary Martin Luther King, Jr. in The Butler.

His final film credit was in True to the Game, which was released after his passing. The TV series Elementary also pays tribute to Nelsan by ending the show with a quote, “In Memory of our Friend Nelsan Ellis”. He died on July 8, 2017, at the age of 39. The industry lost a great actor when Nelsan met his untimely demise. Many mourned his passing, from friends to family to colleagues.