The actor was best known for his portrayal of the troubled singer Eddie King Jr. in Robert Townsend’s 1991 musical drama The Five Heartbeats. Wright appeared in several movies and TV shows over the course of a nearly five-decade career, including the 1983 film Streamers, for which he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor.
“It is with profound sadness and an unimaginable heaviness in my heart that I share the passing of my beloved husband, Michael Wright,” Susan Wright wrote late on Friday.
A 2021 profile in the American lifestyle magazine Sheen described Wright as “one of the biggest underrated actors of our time.”
Born, April 30, 1956, in New York City, Wright said he began acting in the late 1970s as he “couldn’t do anything else quite honestly.”
Wright went on to appear in dozens of film and television roles over the course of his career, including as Omar White on the early 2000s HBO series Oz and opposite Wesley Snipes in the 1994 crime drama Sugar Hill.
The cause of death was not made clear in Friday’s post.
Rest in peace 🕊️
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