HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / LOS ANGELES
'The Five Heartbeats' Star Michael Wright Dead at 70 After Rare Brain Disease Battle
The actor best known for playing troubled singer Eddie King Jr. in Robert Townsend's 1991 classic died of heart failure complicated by a rare degenerative neurological disorder, his wife confirmed.
Michael Wright, the actor whose searing turn as a self-destructing lead singer made "The Five Heartbeats" a touchstone of Black cinema, has died at 70. His family confirmed he passed away Wednesday, August 19, in Los Angeles, with his wife Susan Wright sharing the news publicly this week.
"It is with profound sadness and an unimaginable heaviness in my heart that I share the passing of my beloved husband, Michael Wright," Susan Wright wrote, according to Newsweek.
The cause of death was heart failure combined with complications from Marchiafava-Bignami disease, an exceedingly rare degenerative neurological condition that erodes the corpus callosum, the band of tissue connecting the brain's two hemispheres, according to TMZ, which first reported the family's statement. The disease can bring on paranoia, seizures, dementia and speech and mobility problems as it progresses.
A Nearly Five-Decade Career
Born in New York City in 1956, Wright broke through in Philip Kaufman's 1979 film "The Wanderers" before landing in Robert Altman's 1983 war drama "Streamers," a role for which he shared the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival alongside co-stars including Matthew Modine and David Alan Grier.
But it was Robert Townsend's 1991 musical drama that cemented his legacy. As Eddie King Jr., the gifted but drug-and-alcohol-ravaged frontman of a fictional 1960s vocal group, Wright delivered a performance many critics still cite as one of the most underrated in the film's celebrated ensemble. Three years later he starred opposite Wesley Snipes as Raynathan Skuggs in the crime drama "Sugar Hill." His credits also stretched to "The Principal," "Money Talks," "The Interpreter," and HBO's "Oz."
"It is with profound sadness and an unimaginable heaviness in my heart that I share the passing of my beloved husband, Michael Wright." — Susan Wright
Tributes poured in across social media following the announcement, with fans and film accounts singling out his intensity in "The Principal" and his emotionally raw work in "The Five Heartbeats," a film that has only grown in stature as a cult favorite in the decades since its release. Coverage of his death spread quickly through outlets including Deadline and Variety.
Wright is survived by his wife Susan, his daughter and his stepchildren. No public memorial details have been announced.