[ad_1]
Actor Michael K Williams has died of an overdose of fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin and cocaine, New York’s chief medical examiner told reporters on Friday.
Williams, 54, was found dead at his Brooklyn home on September 6. The death was deemed accidental.
Williams was a dancer before he started acting, becoming best known for his role as Omar Little in The Wire.
Among other television roles, he also starred in Boardwalk Empire and received an Emmy nomination this year for a role in Lovecraft Country. Movie roles included 12 Years a Slave and Inherent Vice.
When playing Omar in The Wire, Williams said in 2012 that he found himself using drugs “in scary places with scary people”, although “nothing stronger” than cocaine and marijuana.
“I was playing with fire,” he told the New Jersey Star-Ledger. “It was only a matter of time before I got caught and my business ended up on the cover of a tabloid or went to jail or, worse, I ended up dying. Looking back on it now, I don’t know how I didn’t end up in a body bag.
The Wire, an ambitious investigation into crime, law and order, and politics in Baltimore, is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series ever made. In 2015, Williams told The Guardian he struggled to keep up with his success.
“I was in a different place in life,” he says. “I was using Omar as a means of escape. Now, I don’t use my job to define myself: it’s what I do, not who I am. I have that understanding now.
A mural in tribute to Williams is due to be unveiled this weekend in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
“The inspiration for the piece is to pay tribute to a son, artist and activist from Brooklyn who touched so many people with his art and his heart,” Sally Rumble, the artist behind the mural, told Time Out .
[ad_2]
Source link
