Reg E Cathey was an American actor who appeared in a wide range of theatre productions, TV shows, and movies over the course of his career. Recently, Cathey passed away in his home in New York City because of his lung cancer, which is a tragic loss indeed. Here are five things that you may or may not have known about Reg E Cathey:
Spent Much of His Childhood Outside of the United States
Cathey’s father was a colonel in the U.S. Army while Cathey’s mother was a worker for the U.S. Department of Defense. As a result, Cathey spent a fair amount of his childhood outside of the United States. To be exact, he grew up on a rural farm situated in what was once West Germany, with the result that he didn’t return to the state of Alabama until he was at the age of 14.
Learned to Be an Actor in NYC
Technically, Cathey learned acting at Yale’s School of Drama. However, he is known to have said that he learned to be an actor in New York City, where he had the chance to indulge his lifelong passion in theatre. With that said, while Cathey’s love for New York City was coupled with a much less fond sentiment for Los Angeles, he did return to Los Angeles on a regular basis to get involved in various projects for the movie screen as well as the TV screen.
Once Expressed a Wish to Appear in an Irish Soap Opera
It is interesting to note that Cathey did some work in the United Kingdom as well. However, it is even more interesting to note that he expressed a desire to appear in a TV show called Fair City at one point in time, which was a curious statement because Fair City is an Irish soap opera that has been running since September of 1989. In fact, Fair City has the distinction of being one of the most watched TV shows in Ireland, which is in addition to the fact that it is the first to address a number of serious issues that were taboo in Ireland at various points in time.
Last TV Role Will Be in Luke Cage
Cathey’s last role in a movie was his performance in Tyrel, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier in 2018. Meanwhile, Cathey’s last role in a TV show will be on Luke Cage, which is expecting its second season sometime soon. In it, Cathey will be playing James Lucas, who is the estranged father of the titular character as well as Willis “Diamondback” Stryker.
Worked with David Simon on Numerous Occasions
A lot of people will be most familiar with Cathey because of his performance on The Wire. However, it is interesting to note that said TV show was far from the first time that Cathey has worked with David Simon on a project. In fact, Cathey had recurring roles in each of the TV shows created by Simon that were filmed in Baltimore, with the others being Homicide: Life on the Street and The Corner.
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