OT: RIP Actor Reg E. Cathey, UM Alum
"Reg E Cathey, who featured in the US version of House of Cards and in The Wire, has died aged 59...
He won an Emmy award in 2015 for his House of Cards role as Freddy Hayes, the owner of a restaurant favoured by Kevin Spacey’s character, Frank Underwood.
In The Wire he played Norman Wilson, a newspaperman who became a political operative.
Cathey told the Guardian in 2016 that his career took off after Barack Obama was elected president because people could begin to accept the idea of a well-spoken black man.
“He got inaugurated, and I started working like a fiend – hired by the same people who would previously ask: ‘Have you always spoken like that?’ It’s like, you know what, motherfuckers, yes, I have,” he said.
Cathey was born in Alabama and spent time in Germany as a child. He attended the University of Michigan and the Yale School of Drama."
EDIT: removed Cathey quote "The world is being destroyed by psychopaths", reference to 2016 Guardian interview with Cathey.
February 10th, 2018 at 11:45 AM ^
He was awesome. He really had a bright future, despite already knocking on the door of 60. This sucks.
February 10th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
RIP Freddy.
February 10th, 2018 at 11:50 AM ^
Great actor with a tremendous voice. Wish we got to see more of him.
February 10th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^
solid actor, he was scary looking in the HBO series "the Corner". R.I.P.
February 10th, 2018 at 12:00 PM ^
He was a terrific actor; I loved to watch anything he was in.
February 10th, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
"Go fuck yourself, Frank"
February 10th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
Just started watching the Wire recently and was bummed to see he passed. Doubly bummed he was a UM grad. RIP.
February 10th, 2018 at 12:23 PM ^
Liked him in Oz on HBO. Had no idea he went to Michigan.
RIP
February 10th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
on Oz. I remember him from that show first. Solid actor. Good chops.
February 10th, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
One of Cathey's earliest roles was on Square One TV on PBS, a show well known for its mass inclusion of references to the University of Michigan (several of the creators of the series were Michigan alums.)
Square One is also the origin of Mathman, he of the winged helmet and my longtime Twitter avatar.
February 10th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^
I didn't know he attended Michigan. He went from being one of those "Oh, that guy!" actors to one of most respected actors in the business.RIP.
February 10th, 2018 at 12:41 PM ^
His imitation of Clay Davis saying his patented sheeiiiiittt was one of the funniest moments on The Wire
February 10th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^
That may have been the most memorable moments in the whole series, which is saying something. In fact, I think he robbed Isiah Whitlock of the catch phrase. I also had no idea he went to Michigan. Now doubly bummed.
February 10th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
Small but memorable part in The Mask...
RIP Freddy
February 10th, 2018 at 1:53 PM ^
by psychopaths? It is from an older article about the man.
February 10th, 2018 at 1:58 PM ^
Why not? The article tells us more about the man.
February 10th, 2018 at 3:54 PM ^
and has nothing to do with his death or connection to UM.
February 10th, 2018 at 4:25 PM ^
But the quote has everything to do with his life and legacy.
February 10th, 2018 at 4:27 PM ^
Do you really think it is appropriate to display his ignorance of the nature of Man at the time of his death?
February 10th, 2018 at 4:51 PM ^
Well, I don't know, certainly no one is stopping you from displaying your ignorance.
February 10th, 2018 at 4:51 PM ^
Well, I don't know, certainly no one is stopping you from displaying your ignorance.
February 10th, 2018 at 4:56 PM ^
You exhbit a complete lack of knowledge of anything other than how to be a dumbass.
February 10th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
It was a copy and paste artifiact from the Guardian article. I have edited it out. I did get the picture with the classic Cathey stare, however.
February 10th, 2018 at 4:56 PM ^
Sigh. I knew someone from the mgoblog thought police would complain about politics.
February 10th, 2018 at 5:01 PM ^
That is government regulation of one's thoughts. In case you didn't notice this board is not the government. It is a privately-owned board that explicitly forbids political chatter because it soon dissolves into ugliness as this thread proves.
The statement has nothing to do with the man's relevance to Michigan, which is what this particular board is dedicated to. It is the political beliefs of the man.
February 10th, 2018 at 5:28 PM ^
Look up the definition of thought police and try again. It is not necessarily government regulation of one's thoughts.
February 10th, 2018 at 2:20 PM ^
I remember him from Square One TV as a kid.
February 10th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
That’s where I first recognized him. And the winged helmet looked good on Mathman.
February 10th, 2018 at 5:09 PM ^
Old school PBS rocked.
February 10th, 2018 at 3:31 PM ^
“The world is being destroyed by psychopaths, so of all the things to be concerned about – acting, it’s not really up there, is it?"
February 10th, 2018 at 3:56 PM ^
If you want to believe in falsehoods go right ahead. But it has no place in a post about a man's death.
February 10th, 2018 at 4:59 PM ^
Yeah, that part really affected your life. That's why you couldn't let it go.
February 10th, 2018 at 5:07 PM ^
The issue is why you and another are trying to defend an unnecessary political statement.
February 10th, 2018 at 5:49 PM ^
The world is being destroyed by psychopaths, so of all the things to be concerned about – someone posting a quote on a message board, it’s not really up there, is it?
February 10th, 2018 at 6:28 PM ^
You are talking too much, in my opinion. Please let it go. Sometimes these things devolve into political bitching because some overly sensitive person won't stfu.
February 10th, 2018 at 8:07 PM ^
What do you expect, SQ is the king of overly sensitive people.
February 11th, 2018 at 8:03 AM ^
This is a "political" quote?
February 10th, 2018 at 5:12 PM ^
That all I have to say about his untimely death. He was a great character actor.
February 10th, 2018 at 5:31 PM ^
rest in peace, dirty dee.
February 10th, 2018 at 7:59 PM ^
Great movie great villain.
February 10th, 2018 at 6:20 PM ^
I am saddened by Mr. Cathey's passing. As a child, I was a big fan of his work on the PBS program "Square One." In recent years, I was pleased to be able to enjoy his acting abilities once again. RIP to a talented actor who expired too soon.
February 10th, 2018 at 8:12 PM ^
In the fall of 1976, I had a small part in Soph Show's performance of "How to Succeed in Business Without Realky Trying". Reg had one of the leads. The cast also included David Alan Grier, who has gone on to have a outstanding career in TV, movies, and comedy. Reg was obviously talented, but also very intelligent and VERY funny. I was not surprised to see him become successful, albeit (for the most part) as a supporting player.
Sharing the stage with Reg (and Dave, for that matter) was an honor--especially for someone with my obvious lack of acting chops!! I would've loved to have had the chance to reminisce with him. He's gone way too soon.
February 10th, 2018 at 9:51 PM ^
He was great in “House of Cards”, “Lights Out”, and “The Wire.”
February 11th, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
A man of rare acting talent.