JD's Revenge actor David McKnight dies aged 87

David McKnight is known for his roles in the likes of J.D.’s Revenge, Under Siege and more (Picture: Maury Phillips/FilmMagic)

Actor David McKnight has died aged 87 after being diagnosed with cancer.

The beloved performer is best known for his roles in J.D.’s Revenge and Under Siege, as well as director Robert Townsend’s films like Hollywood Shuffle and The Five Heartbeats.

His publicist and friend Cynthia Busby had confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he died on Sunday in Las Vegas following his diagnosis.

As well as his big screen career, he took on various roles in TV, including appearances in the likes of Hill Street Blues, Dynasty, Kojak, The Incredible Hulk and Benson.

He is remembered for taking on the role of late New Orleans hustler J.D. Walker in blaxploitation horror film J.D.’s Revenge, which saw his character take over the body of college law student Isaac Hendrix, played by Glynn Turman.

He then seeks revenge on the man who killed him and his sister 30 years earlier.

McKnight went onto appear on the big and small screen (Picture: Nina Prommer/Shutterstock)

Born in Mississippi in 1936, McKnight moved to Chicago aged just four, and later found a love for acting at Wendell Phillips Academy High School before honing his craft in performances at Wilson Junior College.

He enlisted and served in the United States Army before spending time as a police officer before his acting career kicked off in 1970 with a role in all-Black TV soap opera Bird of the Iron Feather.

His career continued with small parts in the likes of The Candidate and The Lifeguard, before landing the lead in J.D.’s Revenge.

He collaborated with filmmaker Townsend over the years, having known him from both growing up in Chicago, and he offered some thoughts on The Hollywood Shuffle before being cast as Uncle Ray.

‘He said, “You’re the only person who told me how to make this film work,”‘ he recalled in 2018.

The pair would later team up again in 1991 on The Five Heartbeats before he joined Steven Seagal the following year in Under Siege, while he most recently appeared in web series A House Divided.

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