Keith Jefferson, an actor best known for his roles in “Django Unchained,” “The Hateful Eight” and “Day Shift,” has died at 53, his agent, Nicole St. John, confirmed to USA TODAY on Friday.
Jefferson, who had opened up about his cancer diagnosis on social media two months ago, died “surrounded by his family and close friends,” St. John said, adding that he was “well cared for” at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center.
“He was a tremendous talent and it is a profound loss to the artistic community,” St. John said in a statement to USA TODAY. “He had several projects in the pipeline and was in the midst of a project that captured his unique and resonant voice. He had been looking forward to returning in the new year.”
Jamie Foxx mourns Keith Jefferson: ‘This one hurts’
Friend and frequent collaborator Jamie Foxx, 55, broke the news Thursday on Instagram and reflected on the pair’s decades-long friendship while honoring the actor. Foxx said he and Jefferson met in college.
Jefferson also appeared in several projects starring Foxx, including his eponymous WB comedy, “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “Django Unchained,” “Day Shift,” Foxx’s Netflix series “Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!” and “The Burial,” a drama costarring Tommy Lee Jones, debuting on Amazon’s Prime Video Oct. 13.
Jefferson had acknowledged Foxx as a source of support during his cancer battle in an Aug. 9 Instagram post. “I have a loving family and the best friends in the entire world,” Jefferson wrote. “From my Mom to J Foxx and everybody in between. I love you whole heartedly.”
“This one hurts,” a grieving Foxx wrote on the social media site Thursday. “Keith, you’ve been nothing but absolute grace, your whole life your heart is pure your love is immeasurable you were an amazing soul. We will all miss you dearly. It’s gonna take a long time for this to heal. Goodbye, my friend. I love you.”
Foxx quickly followed up with another post memorializing the actor. “Everything hurts right now,” Foxx captioned a photo of the two embracing at the steps of a plane, “having a hard time looking through these pictures reliving the memories of us having a great time going to miss you man gonna miss you…
“Every since we met back in college, you have been in incredible soul,” Foxx added, “God rest, NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE TO SEE THE WORDS ABOUT MY FRIEND RIP…Keith.”
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‘The Burial’ was one of Keith Jefferson’s final films
Following “Django Unchained” in 2012, Jefferson appeared in two additional Tarantino pictures, “The Hateful Eight” (2015) and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2019). Last year, Jefferson appeared in the TV Movie “Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding,” which Foxx executive produced.
IMDb lists “The Burial” as one of Jefferson’s final acting roles, one for which he seemed incredibly excited. “It’s finally here and what a blessing it was to work on this film with an amazing group of actors,” Jefferson wrote when sharing a trailer to Instagram on Sept. 7. “Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones along with an all star cast and my most important role to date.”
Jefferson shared insight into his acting inspiration while paying tribute to Angela Lansbury, following her death last October. The two worked together on the 2001 TV Movie “Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man.”
“I always say that Danny Glover (is) the person who got me interested in acting for film and Angela Lansbury was the one who got me interested in theater at an early age when I saw her performance as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd on Broadway,” Jefferson wrote on Instagram. “A true triple threat who will go down as one of the greatest Entertainers of all time. Thank you and you will always be cherished in my eyes.”
Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
Her son died, and she felt alone.In her grief, she found YouTube.