'Orange Is the New Black' Actor Brad William Henke Dead at 56
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The former NFL player garnered over 100 acting credits with roles in hit shows like 'Dexter' and 'Law & Order.'
Actor Brad William Henke has sadly passed away. He was 56.
The former NFL player turned actor was best known for his work on many famed TV series, like Orange Is the New Black, where he won the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for his role as prison guard Desi Piscatella.
Henke also appeared in Dexter, Justified, and Lost, as well as on the big screen, namely in the full-length features Pacific Rim (2013), Split (2016), and World Trade Center (2006), per IMDb.
His family told reporters that Henke died in his sleep on Nov. 29 but offered no information on the actor's cause of death, according to Deadline.
Henke was raised in Littleton, Colorado, before he moved to Tucson, Arizona, to play college football at the University of Arizona. He had a knack for the game, serving as team captain before being drafted by the New York Giants in 1989. Later, he went to play on the defensive line for the Denver Broncos and even made it into the Super Bowl XXIV.
Henke's acting success, though profound, was somewhat of an accident. After sustaining career-ending injuries in 1994, Henke retired from the game of football and headed to Los Angeles, California, to coach. That's when he came across an open call for “big guys” to do a commercial, which eventually led to him scoring minor roles on shows like ER, CSI, Law & Order, and Chicago Hope before he became a recognizable face with nearly 100 other credits, per Deadline.
Henke is survived by his mother, Tammy; his sister, Annette; his wife, Sonja; stepson, Aaden; stepdaughter, Leasa; and grandchild, Amirah. He was preceded in death by his father, Bill.
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