Brad William Henke dies: Orange Is The New Black, Justified and Dexter actor was 56

Brad William Henke, former NFL player, has dabbled in acting and has appeared in TV series including Orange is the new blackAnd the justification And the Lost And movies like pacific rim And the World Trade Center, Die. He was 56 years old. Henke died in his sleep on November 29, his family said, but no cause was given.

Henke was born on April 10, 1966 in Columbus, Nebraska, and raised in Littleton, Colorado, and played college football at the University of Arizona, where he was team captain and college journalist. Drafted by the New York Giants in 1989, he went on to play on the defensive line for the Denver Broncos and appeared in Super Bowl XXIV.

After injuries forced his retirement in 1994, Henke moved to Los Angeles to pursue coaching. An open invitation to “adults” to do a commercial soon led to a new career. He started scoring guest spots on TV series such as ER, Chicago Hope, Silk Stockings, Nash Bridges And the Arlie$$ He continued to work regularly until this year, amassing nearly 100 credits.

The actor landed his first major recurring role in the 2000-02 WB Network comedy nikki, Starring Nikki Cox, and starred opposite Sam Trammell in Showtime’s road trip drama. go to california, which lasted one season.

Along with more guest roles in series including CSI, Crossing Jordan And the Amy arbitrationHenke had small parts in a number of features during the early 2000s. appeared in The Assassination Of Richard Nixon You And Me And Everyone We Know Should Love Dogs The Zodiac The North Country The World Trade Center And the Hollywood Land before it was shown on Showtime dexter as Tony Tucci, a murder suspect who becomes a victim’s confidant who recurred in four episodes.

Henke landed his second series regular role on the short-lived 2007 ABC drama October Road.

After that, he hosted series like Law & Order, Life on Mars and CSI: Miami before being cast on ABC Lost Like Bram, she recurred for half a dozen episodes in 2009-10. Henke went on to play Coover Bennett in seven episodes of FX’s second season justification He did an arc in the 2011 Fox drama Shawn Ryan Chicago Law.

As featured in the feature throttle, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and shared a Special Jury Prize for its cast. Henke also performed the mid-2010s arcs on FX the bridge and Prime Video’s Sneaky Pete. Then he scored his best role.

Henke has been cast in the Showtime drama Jenji Kohan Orange is the new black as Desi Piscatella, a gay corrections officer at Litchfield Federal Penitentiary. He appeared in over twenty episodes from 2016 to 2018 and shared a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2017. The cast was nominated again the following year.

Henke also recurred as Big John on Discovery’s Season 2 Chase in 2020 and as Tom Cullen on CBS All Access’ Platform in 2020-21. His other recent credits include Law & Order: SVU And the films of 2022 party bloc And the Run and gun.

Henk is survived by his mother, Tammy. His sister, Annette. his wife Sonia; Stepson Aden Stepdaughter Lisa. and his granddaughter Amira, hundreds of friends and fellow actors and students. He died at the hands of his father, Bill, who paid tribute to his professional name.