Top 10 Tony Todd Roles (Besides Candyman)

Tony Todd is best known to horror fans for his leading role in Candyman and its two sequels. The veteran actor has killed it in many other film and TV roles as well, and here are ten of our favorites!

Kurn
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990-1991)

He may not be as recognizable behind that Klingon makeup, but Tony Todd had a recurring role in the Star Trek universe as Kurn, Worf’s brother. He first appeared in The Next Generation, following Worf to the Enterprise as part of an officer exchange program. He eventually becomes a member of the Klingon High Council, although he is forced out of his seat when his brother Worf is cast out of Klingon society for refusing to abandon the Federation.

Years later, Todd would reprise the role of Kurn in an episode of Deep Space Nine. The character has since become suicidal, asking Worf to kill him as a way to restore his honor. Instead, Worf has Dr. Bashir erase most of Kurn’s memories, including his identity. It’s an intriguing storyline, and Todd did exceptionally well in the sci-fi role.

Ben
Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Before becoming widely known in horror as an antagonist, Tony Todd had a very memorable role in Tom Savini’s 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead. Todd played the character Ben, who was played by Duane Jones in George A. Romero’s original movie. While the original Ben is great in his own way, Todd definitely made the role his own.

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In the film, Ben is one of the heroes trying his best to keep everyone safe from the zombies outside. Those who’ve seen the original would already know the character’s chances of survival weren’t very high. Still, seeing a zombified version of Ben in the end, was a major bummer, as Todd was just so damn likable in the role.

Grange
The Crow (1994)

Clearly, Todd can play an excellent hero, but the actor still seems to be more at home portraying antagonists. While playing the titular role in Candyman helped define Todd’s legacy, the actor has the tendency to steal the show when playing villains in other movies as well.

One excellent example of this comes in 1994’s The Crow. That film sees Todd playing Grange – gang leader Top Dollar’s right-hand man. Grange may not have been the one in charge and came with limited screen time, but the character is still the creepiest of all the movie’s villains. He proves to be a formidable threat for most of the movie until he is finally gunned down by Ernie Hudson’s Sergeant Albrecht.

Britt Johnson
Black Fox (1995)

In 1995, Todd would venture into the Western genre, portraying a cowboy in a television miniseries on CBS. Told over three parts, Black Fox was based on a 1973 novel of the same name by author Matt Braun. Christopher Reeve co-stars with Todd as “blood brothers” Alan and Britt Johnson. Alan, a former plantation owner, bonded with Britt after freeing him from slavery, and the two traveled to Texas to start a new life.

The title of the series comes from the nickname given to Britt in the movie. When their families are taken hostage by invading Indians, it is decided that Britt has the best chance of negotiating for their survival due to his skin color. He then bravely heads straight into Indian territory alone.

Captain Darrow
The Rock (1996)

The Rock is a 1996 action film about a group of rogue marines seizing Alcatraz, taking dozens of tourists hostage. Tony Todd is in the film as one of the disgruntled marines, and again, he plays the creepiest one. This is the kind of guy who tosses down his gun and pulls out a knife once he has the hero cornered, preferring brutality over a quick death.

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The best part about this Todd character just might be his demise at the hands of Nicolas Cage. While the two are fighting, Cage’s character Stanley Goodspeed asks Darrow if he likes Elton John music. Darrow is a bit confused until Goodspeed tells him, “I only bring it up because it’s you – you’re the Rocket Man.” Todd’s character is then blown away into the air with a rocket, falling to his death.

Johnny Valentine
Wishmaster (1997)

The underappreciated movie Wishmaster features cameos from many fan-favorite actors from the horror genre. Along with the likes of Kane Hodder and Robert Englund, Tony Todd has a memorable scene in the film. Awesomely named, Todd plays the character Johnny Valentine in the movie, a security guard working as a doorman at a dinner party.

In Wishmaster, the antagonist is a djinn who kills people in ironic ways based on their wishes. The djinn asks Valentine if he wishes to “escape” from his menial job as a doorman. After Valentine answers that he does, he is then placed in a straightjacket in a Chinese water torture cell, in a manner similar to the stunt performed by professional escape artists. “Houdini did it in two and a half minutes,” the djinn says, but there’s no such luck for poor Johnny.

William Bludworth
Final Destination Franchise

Tony Todd has had a recurring role in the Final Destination film series, beginning with the very first one. His character, William Bludworth, was written specifically for him by writer Glen Morgan, who thought Todd’s voice would help give the film an eerie tone. A coroner with a mysterious background, Bludworth seems to know everything there is to know about how Death works in this movie universe.

In the first film, Bludworth explains to the survivors how Death will revisit those who cheat it to claim the lives which should have been lost. Bludworth later returns in Final Destination 2 to reveal how only “new life” can defeat death, leading to the survival of the lead characters. Todd’s iconic character would later appear once again in Final Destination 5, this time to inform the others that they can save their own lives by killing someone else, taking over their lifespan.

Reverend Zombie
Hatchet Franchise

Filmmaker Adam Green brought in Tony Todd for the movie Hatchet, a slasher film first released in 2006. In the film, Todd plays the eccentric haunted tour guide, Reverend Zombie. When tourists plan on going on Zombie’s tour, they learn that it has been closed after he had been sued for negligence. He sends them to another tour guide, who takes them along with a group of people straight to their doom in Victor Crowley’s swamp.

Todd would return in Hatchet II in a much more prominent role. Reverent Zombie leads relatives of the people who burned Victor into the swamp, hoping their deaths would mean the monster’s spirit would finally rest. This plan fails, and Zombie winds up getting his skeleton forcibly removed from his body.

The Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

The man of the hour has many voice credits to his name as well. The Fallen, the titular Decepticon from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is the most prominent of these roles. From director Michael Bay, it is the second installment in the Transformers movie series. Released in 2009, the film pulled in over $830 million at the box office.

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The Fallen is the first and founder of the Decepticons. He orders the destruction of Optimus Prime, which is carried out by Megatron. Later, Optimus is revived, leading to a brutal battle between the two in the end. As the voice of The Fallen, Todd gives the transforming robot a creepy edge it otherwise may not have had.

The Barker
Hell Fest (2018)

Gregory Plotkin’s 2018 slasher film Hell Fest takes place in a horror theme park where visiting teenagers are targeted by a serial killer. As you can expect, the masked murderer isn’t the only thing creepy to find in the park. This includes a carnival barker played by Tony Todd, who is the owner of the Hell Fest attraction.

The Barker maintains a continuous presence throughout the film. His time on screen is limited, but his iconic voice can be heard announcing the various attractions. As he does in so many other movies, Todd absolutely nails the role. It’d be awesome if the film one day sees a sequel because this is a character we’d love to see more of.