Actor and former NFL star Bernie Casey has died in a Los Angeles hospital. He was 78.
Casey is best known for his roles in the Revenge of the Nerds movie franchise and the ’80s comedy I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.
A gifted athlete, Casey excelled at track and field at Bowling Green University. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 1961. He played for six seasons with the 49ers and two season with the Los Angeles Rams.
In 1968, Casey followed in the footsteps of other NFL greats like Jim Brown and Fred Williamson who took up acting after retiring from football.
Casey’s first acting role in a film was Guns of the Magnificent Seven, a sequel to The Magnificent Seven.
He made his television debut in 1971 in the ABC TV tearjerker Brian’s Song, starring James Caan and Billy Dee Williams, about a football star who is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Casey landed roles in television dramas and a string of blaxploitation films in the 1970s, including 1973’s Cleopatra Jones as Tamara Dobson‘s love interest.
Casey played a high school teacher in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure in 1983. His impressive acting resume included the films Never Say Never Again, Keenen Ivory Wayans‘s I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Photo by Rachel Worth / WENN
