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Celebrities Share Condolences After ‘Do The Right Thing’ Actor Bill Nunn Dies at 62

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: | Updated on December 9, 2016 CommentsComments (0)
Bill Nunn (Twitter)

Bill Nunn (Twitter)

Spike Lee confirmed the passing of actor Bill Nunn over the weekend. Nunn was 62 years old.

According to the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, the actor succumbed to a long battle with leukemia.

In an Instagram post, Lee told fans Nunn died at home Sept. 24 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKv3GyABu8Q/

“Long Live Bill NUNN,” the acclaimed director wrote Saturday. “RADIO RAHEEM Is Now RESTING IN POWER. RADIO RAHEEM WILL ALWAYS BE FIGHTING DA POWERS DAT BE. MAY GOD WATCH OVER BILL NUNN.”

Both Lee and Nunn attended Morehouse College in Atlanta. The director cast Nunn in his 1988 film School Daze.

However, after playing Radio Raheem in Lee’s film Do The Right Thing the following year, it became Nunn’s best-known role.

Nunn went on to star in two other Lee movies –  Mo’ Better Blues and He Got Game. Other notable movie credits include Sister Act, New Jack City and the Spider-Man trilogy.

In addition to his work on the big screen, Nunn also had a theatre career.

He founded the Pittsburgh-based Bill Nunn Theatre Outreach Project in 2008. According to the non-profit’s Facebook page, his goal was to “nurture theatrical professionalism among young actors and to inspire a love of theatre and creative expression among urban youth.”

Nunn’s last role was as a paramedic on the TV show “Sirens.”

Since news of Nunn’s passing broke, many Hollywood stars shared their condolences online.

Audra McDonald, who starred with the veteran actor in A Raisin in the Sun, said she was “heartbroken.”

https://twitter.com/AudraEqualityMc/status/779795613156335616

Nunn’s New Jack City co-star Wesley Snipes tweeted, “Rest in power, my brother.”

Hip-hop artist and social activist Talib Kweli said the late actor “brought his best to every role.”

https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/status/779788964920172545

Wendell Pierce praised Nunn for “showing the humanity of young Black men.”

Meanwhile, “Empire” star Grace Byers shared her memories of Nunn in Sister Act.

https://twitter.com/LadyGraceByers/status/779856642812837888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Questlove shared an image of Nunn’s Radio Raheem character.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKwJAM_hgUb/

And Sherri Shepherd noted Nunn “will always be Radio Raheem to me.”

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