David McKnight Dies: Star Of ‘J.D.’s Revenge’ And ‘The Hollywood Shuffle’ Was 87
deadline.comDavid McKnight, whose film resume included starring as the lead in the blaxploitation horror movie J.D.’s Revenge, as well as Robert Townsend’s Hollywood Shuffle and The Five Heartbeats, died Sunday at age 87.
McKnight passed from cancer in Las Vegas, according to reports. The actor was a TV staple in various character roles, appearing on Kojak, Hill Street Blues, The Incredible Hulk, Dynasty and Benson, among other shows.
In J.D.’s Revenge (1976), McKnight played a deceased New Orleans hustler who takes over the body of a college student (Glynn Turman) and goes after the man who murdered him and his sister 30 years earlier.
McKnight was hired to play Uncle Ray in Townsend’s The Hollywood Shuffle, playing a singer turned barber who encourages Townsend’s Bobby Taylor to pursue his dream of becoming an actor.
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