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Nelsan Ellis, who portrayed Lafayette on all seven seasons of the HBO horror-drama series True Blood, has died at the age of 39.
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"Nelsan has passed away after complications with heart failure," the actor's manager Emily Gerson Saines, told the Hollywood Reporter. "He was a great talent, and his words and presence will be forever missed."
"We were extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Nelsan Ellis," HBO said in a statement. "Nelsan was a long-time member of the HBO family whose groundbreaking portrayal of Lafayette will be remembered fondly within the overall legacy of True Blood. Nelsan will be dearly missed by his fans and all of us at HBO."
Actress Octavis Spencer wrote on social media Saturday, "Just got word that we lost [Ellis]. My heart breaks for his kids and family."
A graduate of Julliard, Ellis' first major role was as Lafayette Reynolds, a short order cook and vampire blood dealer on the hit HBO series. Ellis' portrayal of the character was so beloved by True Blood fans of the series that even though Lafayette was killed off early in the Sookie Stackhouse book series, the character lasted the entirety of the show.
In addition to True Blood, Ellis appeared Lee Daniels' The Butler (as Martin Luther King, Jr.), Secretariat, The Help, The Stanford Prison Experiment and as singer Bobby Byrd in the James Brown biopic Get On Up. Most recently, Ellis had a reoccurring role in the CBS detective series Elementary.
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