Former Rare Staff
On Friday evening, fans of Reginald Eugene Cathey found out that the well-known character actor had passed away.
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Cathey had regularly worked in Hollywood since the late 1980s.
Among his many film and television roles, Cathey was best known for his work in David Simon’s “The Wire,” and Netflix’s “House of Cards.” Prior to that, Cathey delivered memorable performances in films like “Se7en,” “Airheads” and “Fantastic Four.”
According to TMZ, Cathey died of lung cancer surrounded by friends and family in New York.
In a 2016 interview with The Guardian, Cathey opened up about his life growing up as a black man in the south, and his thoughts on the politics of the era.
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“Sure, having a black president has done nothing to change anything regarding race in America,” Cathey said about the election of President Barack Obama. “But what I did notice is that Barack Obama becomes president and suddenly black people who are well-spoken are working more. This new market for the well-spoken black actor is all due to Obama. He got inaugurated and I started working like a fiend – hired by the same people who would previously ask: ‘Have you always spoken like that?’ It’s like, you know what, motherf**kers, yes, I have.”
In the same interview, Cathey also commented about the rise of President Donald Trump.
“A bunch of douchebags have taken over and what they are preaching, it’s not really religion,” Cathey noted. “If Jesus was to come to America today, talk about throwing the merchants out of the temple, he’d be throwing all these douchebags out of Christianity. If he met anyone from the Tea Party, he’d be furious: ‘Get the f**k out of people’s bedrooms and bathrooms.’”
He added, “The world is being destroyed by psychopaths, so of all the things to be concerned about – acting, it’s not really up there, is it?”
Reginald Cathey was 59 years old.
