24/05/2025
REMEMBERING 'FRIDAY' CAST NO LONGER WITH US
▪LAWANDA PAGE: LaWanda Page originally played the role of Aunt Ester on 'Sanford & Son'. Page often was billed as "The Queen of Comedy" or "The Black Queen of Comedy". She released five solo albums, including the 1977 gold-selling Watch It, Sucker!. She also collaborated on two albums with comedy group Skillet, Leroy & Co. She played one of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the original Friday.
She passed away on September 14, 2002 at the age of 81 of natural causes.
▪BERNIE MAC: King Of Comedy Bernie Mac, played the role of Pastor Clever in the original Friday. He was the star of the Bernie Mac show, which ran from 2001 through 2006, earning him two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Mac's other films included starring roles in Mo’ Money, B***y Call, Friday, B*A*P*S, Life, The Players Club, Head of State, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Bad Santa, Guess Who, Pride, Soul Men, Transformers, Old Dogs, and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
He suffered from sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis frequently attacked his lungs. After a week of unsuccessful medical treatment, Mac went into cardiac arrest and subsequently died during the early morning hours on August 9, 2008 from complications of pneumonia at the age of 50.
▪YVETTE WILSON: Yvette Wilson was known for her role as Andell Wilkerson, the shopkeeper of the local hangout on the UPN sitcom Moesha (1996–2001); and restaurant owner and Nikki's (played by Mo'Nique) best friend on its spinoff The Parkers (1999–2004). She played the role of Rita on the original Friday(she told Smokey she looked like Janet Jackson).
Yvette passed away June 14, 2012 from Cervical Cancer.
▪MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN: Many are familiar with him as John Coffey from "The Green Mile",which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and other honor. However, Michael Clarke Duncan had a small uncredited role on the original Friday as a Craps Player.
Duncan passed away on September 3, 2012 at the age of 54 from a Heart Attack.
▪REYNALDO REY: Reynaldo Rey has appeared in 52 movies, including Friday(as Red's father) House Party 3, White Men Can't Jump, A Rage in Harlem, and Harlem Nights, where he appeared with the likes of Redd Foxx (his mentor, for whom he often opened shows), Della Reese, Richard Pryor, Arsenio Hall, and Eddie Murphy. He also has 32 television shows to his credit, including BET's Comic View, 1998–1999, 2000–2001, on which he was a co-host, The Tonight Show, Robert Townsend's Parents in Crime, and The Parent Hood, and 227 as Ray the Mailman.
Rey died on May 28, 2015, due to complications from a stroke he suffered a year prior.
▪JOHN WITHERSPOON: John Witherspoon He is best remembered for his role as Willie Jones for the Friday series. Witherspoon also starred in films such as Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Boomerang (1992), The Five Heartbeats (1991), and Vampire in Brooklyn (1995). He has also made appearances on television shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1994), The Wayans Bros. (1995–99), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003), Barnaby Jones (1973), The Boondocks (2005–2014), and Black Jesus (2014–2019).
Witherspoon died of a heart attack at his home in Sherman Oaks, California on October 29, 2019.
▪TOMMY LISTER, JR: Tommy Lister Jr. was an American character actor and occasional professional wrestler known for his roles as the neighborhood bully Deebo in the 1995 film Friday and its 2000 sequel and as President Lindberg in The Fifth Element. He had two short professional wrestling stints, with Hulk Hogan in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) after appearing as Zeus in the 1989 film No Holds Barred and resuming the feud as Z-Gangsta in 1996 for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He was blind in his right eye.
He passed away on December 10, 2020. His cause of death was originally suspected to be from complications of COVID-19. However, the final autopsy report revealed that the cause of death was hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
▪ANTHONY JOHNSON: Anthony Johnson(AKA A.J. Johnson), was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as "Ezal" in the 1995 comedy film Friday. Johnson began acting in his early twenties. In 1990, he landed a starring role as E.Z.E. in House Party, after which he started doing stand-up in bars in Los Angeles. He later appeared in Lethal Weapon 3. He also appeared in Panther, The Players Club, B*A*P*S, I Got the Hook-Up, Def Jam's How to Be a Player.
Johnson died on September 6, 2021, aged 55 from multi-system organ failure stemming from chronic ethanol use. See less
