William Goldwyn Nunn III (October 20, 1953 – September 24, 2016) was an American actor known for his roles as Radio Raheem in Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing, Robbie Robertson in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man film trilogy and as Terrence "Pip" Phillips on The Job (2001–02).
Bill Nunn | |
|---|---|
 Nunn in Introducing August Wilson (2013) | |
| Born | William Goldwyn Nunn III October 20, 1953 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | September 24, 2016 (aged 62) Hill District, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1974–2016 |
| Spouse | Donna Nunn |
| Children | 2 |
Early life
editBill Nunn III was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Frances Nunn and William G. Nunn, Jr., a journalist and editor at the Pittsburgh Courier and a National Football League scout.[1][2] His paternal grandfather was the first African American football player at George Westinghouse High School.[3] While ball boys for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bill Nunn and current Steelers president Art Rooney II stole "Mean" Joe Greene's car during training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.[4] "Joe Greene showed up in a beautiful green Lincoln Continental, and me and Bill Nunn, Jr. were ball boys. Somehow Bill got the keys one night and we decided to take it for a ride. We only told Joe that story about 10 years ago. We figured that enough time had passed that we could disclose our little joy ride."[4]
Nunn was a 1970 graduate of Schenley High School and a 1976 graduate of Morehouse College.[5] He attended college with Spike Lee and appeared in several of Lee's early feature films.[1]
Career
editNunn made his credited film debut in the 1988 Spike Lee film School Daze,[6] and is best known for his roles as Radio Raheem in Lee's Do the Right Thing,[7] and as Nino Brown's bodyguard Duh Duh Duh Man in New Jack City.[8] Some of his other film credits include Lee's Mo' Better Blues and He Got Game, as well as Regarding Henry, Sister Act, Canadian Bacon, The Last Seduction, Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, Runaway Jury, Spider-Man trilogy (as Joseph "Robbie" Robertson), Firehouse Dog, the television series The Job, Randy and The Mob, and the 2016 televised adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun.[9]
Nunn also performed on stage, including August Wilson's Fences, a Pittsburgh-based play in which Nunn performed with Anthony Mackie, who played Nunn's character's son.[1] He was also very involved in community outreach, and he formed his own Pittsburgh-area outreach project in 2008.[1]
Death
editNunn died on September 24, 2016, at his home[10] in Pittsburgh's Hill District; he was 62 years old.[11] His widow, Donna, confirmed that he had leukemia.[10][1]
Filmography
edit- 1981 Sharky's Machine as Kitten's Bouncer (uncredited)
- 1988 School Daze as Grady
- 1989 Do the Right Thing as Radio Raheem
- 1989 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court as School Teacher
- 1989 Glory (uncredited)
- 1990 Def by Temptation as Dougy
- 1990 Cadillac Man as Grave Digger
- 1990 Mo' Better Blues as Bottom Hammer (Bass)
- 1991 New Jack City as "Duh Duh Man"
- 1991 Regarding Henry as Bradley, Physical Therapist
- 1991 White Lie as Chief Adams
- 1992 Sister Act as Lieutenant Eddie Souther
- 1993 Loaded Weapon 1 as Police Photographer
- 1993 Blood Brothers as William Crawford
- 1994 The Last Seduction as Harlan
- 1994 Save Me as Detective Vincent
- 1995 Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh as Reverend Ellis
- 1995 Canadian Bacon as Kabral
- 1995 Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead as "Easy Wind"
- 1995 True Crime as Detective Jerry Guinn
- 1995 The Affair (TV Movie) as Sergeant Rivers
- 1995 Money Train as Crash Train Motorman
- 1995 New York Undercover (TV Series) as Lieutenant Carver
- 1996 Touched by an Angel (TV Series) as Frank Champness
- 1996 Mr. and Mrs. Loving as Leonard
- 1996 Bulletproof as DEA Agent Finch
- 1996 Extreme Measures as Detective Bob Burke
- 1997 Quicksilver Highway as Len
- 1997 Kiss the Girls as Detective John Sampson
- 1997 Mad City as Cliff Williams (uncredited)
- 1997 Ellen Foster as Mr. Douglas
- 1998 Always Outnumbered as Howard M'Shalla
- 1998 He Got Game as Uncle Bubba
- 1998 Ambushed as Watts Fatboy
- 1999 The Legend of 1900 as Danny Boodman
- 1999 The Tic Code as Kingston
- 1999 Passing Glory as Howard Porter
- 1999 Foolish as Jimmy Beck
- 1999 The Hungry Bachelors Club as Moses Grady
- 2000 Lockdown as Charles
- 2001–2002 The Job (TV Series) as Terrence "Pip" Phillips
- 2001 The Substitute 4: Failure Is Not An Option as Luther
- 2002 Spider-Man as Joe "Robbie" Robertson
- 2002 People I Know as Reverend Lyle Blunt
- 2003 Runaway Jury as Lonnie Shaver
- 2004 Spider-Man 2 as Joe "Robbie" Robertson
- 2006 Out There[12] as Desmond
- 2006 Idlewild as G.W.
- 2007 Firehouse Dog as Joe Musto
- 2007 Spider-Man 3 as Joe "Robbie" Robertson
- 2007 Randy and the Mob as Wardlowe Gone
- 2008 A Raisin in the Sun as "Bobo"
- 2008 Little Bear and the Master as The Warden
- 2009 Fences
- 2009 Help Me, Help You as Detective
- 2012 Won't Back Down as Principal Holland
- 2014–2015 Sirens (TV series) as "Cash" (final appearance)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Goldstein, Andrew; Lord, Rich; Eberson, Sharon (September 25, 2016). "Actor Bill Nunn dies". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
- ^ Varley, Teresa (February 27, 2007). "Long-time scout Bill Nunn is a man who made a difference". steelers.com. Pittsburgh Steelers. Archived from the original on March 5, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
- ^ Finder, Chuck (2006-07-24). "Q&A". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
- ^ a b Prisuta, Mike (2015-07-26). "2015 Training Camp is underway". Archived from the original on 2016-02-24.
- ^ "Morehouse Celebrates 143 Years". Morehouse College. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
- ^ Penrice, Ronda Racha (13 February 2018). "Spike Lee to appear at 30th anniversary 'School Daze' screening at Fox". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cox Media Group. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
- ^ Laws, Zach; Beachum, Chris (10 August 2018). "Spike Lee movies: 15 greatest films, ranked worst to best, include 'Do the Right Thing,' 'Malcolm X,' 'BlacKkKlansman'". Gold Derby. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
- ^ "'Do the Right Thing,' 'New Jack City' actor Bill Nunn dies at 62". Al.com. Advance Local Media LLC. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
- ^ Mcshane, Larry. "Bill Nunn, Radio Raheem in 'Do the Right Thing,' dies at 63". Daily News. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
- ^ a b Gajanan, Mahita (September 25, 2016). "Celebrities Mourn the Death of Do the Right Thing Actor Bill Nunn". Time. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
- ^ Stack, Liam (September 24, 2016). "Bill Nunn, Who Played Radio Raheem in 'Do the Right Thing,' Dies at 63". The New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2016. Nunn was 62 years, 11 months old, so the headline is incorrect.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ Out There at IMDb
External links
edit- Bill Nunn at IMDb
- Obituary Archived 2016-09-27 at the Wayback Machine at cremationfuneralcare.com
- Life of Bill Nunn from death-notices.co.uk (archived)