Clarence Gilyard Jr has died aged 66. The actor played one of the main characters of “Walker, Texas Ranger”, and had been seen in “Top Gun“, “Piège de cristal” or even “LA Takedown”, before teaching cinema and theater at university.
Clarence Gilyard Jr, a ranger alongside Chuck Norris
Children of the 1990s had the opportunity to spend hours in front of the television watching on TF1 Chuck Norris swinging mandals in Walker, Texas Ranger. A cult program broadcast between 1993 and 2001 on CBS in the United States, then many times in France. But Chuck Norris is not the only one to have marked the spirits with his kicks returned. Next to him was also Clarence Gilyard Jr who played ranger James Trivette, also a friend of Walker. Together, they brought justice to Texas with their fists.
Unfortunately, we learn from Deadline the death of Clarence Gilyard Jr this November 28, 2022. Born on December 24, 1955 in the United States, the actor was aged 66 years old. No details have yet been given on the circumstances of his death.
Directed by Michael Mann and John McTiernan
Although its most important role will certainly remain that of Walker, Texas Ranger, the career of Clarence Gilyard Jr began long before. From 1982 he participated in about twenty episodes of the series Chips (1982-1983). Then we see it alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun, portraying Sundown, one of the academy pilots. Next came crystal trap (1988) in which he marked the spirits. Indeed, he is one of the terrorists who break into the Nakatomi Plaza, playing more precisely the computer scientist responsible for opening the safe.
Note also in his filmography his participation in LA Takedown (1989)the TV movie by Michael Mann that the director then adapted for the cinema with Heat (1996). Clarence Gilyard Jr will thus have been able to collaborate with two important names in the industry with John McTiernan and therefore Michael Mann.
Finally, in addition to having reprized her role as Trivette in television films derived from Walker, Texas Ranger, the actor taught at UNLV, the Fine Arts University of Nevada as a professor of film and theater. The establishment paid tribute to him, stating (via Deadline): “Professor Gilyard was a light and a strength to all around him“.
