Black Hollywood has lost another great actor under tragic circumstances.

Lovecraft Country actor Michael K. Williams’ body was found on Monday in his Brooklyn penthouse. The Post reported that the beloved actor died from a suspected heroin overdose. His nephew discovered his body at 2 p.m. and called for emergency services. Williams was pronounced dead twelve minutes later. 

Sources disclosed that a substance that appeared to be heroin was discovered on the man’s Williamsburg penthouse dining room table. 

“I found the body,” said an unidentified man on his cellphone, crying at the scene.

The visibly shaken man appeared to be trying to grasp that Williams was gone.

New York City police and medical examiner were also at the tragic scene. 

“No foul play indicated,” a police source said. “No forced entry. The apartment was in order.”

The 54-year-old entertainer had an extensive body of work, including working on television shows like Law and Order, CSI, and Boston Legal. He was mostly known for his work on HBO’s successful series The Wire. He portrayed Omar, a savvy stick-up dude known for not playing games. He won an NAACP Image Award for the role in 2009. 

Williams initially got his start in the industry as a professional dancer at age 22. The Brooklyn-native toured with the likes of Madonna and the late George Michael. 

In 2004, he openly talked about his addiction to cocaine which started while he worked on The Wire. He also smoked marijuana. 

“I was playing with fire,” Williams admitted. “It was just a matter of time before I got caught and my business ended up on the cover of a tabloid or I went to jail or, worse, I ended up dead. When I look back on it now, I don’t know how I didn’t end up in a body bag.”

“I suffered from a huge identity crisis … But when I look at the characters, I got to exorcise my demons a lot. In the end, I was more comfortable with Omar’s skin than my own. That was a problem.” 

Williams beat his bout with addiction with the help of Reverend Ronald Christian of the Christian Love Church in Irvington, New Jersey. 

Social media users and celebrities are mourning one of Black culture’s favorite actors. 

 

Our prayers go out to his family.