# Nelsan Ellis has died.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 8, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792 "2017-07-08T21:21:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lilihob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a9adbd/32.png) [@lilihob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilihob)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/1 "2017-07-08T21:21:12Z")

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> **[True Blood star Nelsan Ellis dies aged 39 of heart failure](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/08/true-blood-star-nelsan-ellis-dies-aged-39/)**
>
> True Blood star Nelsan Ellis has died aged 39, his manager has confirmed.

Godspeed Lafayette.  
Great actor, great character.  
Thirty nine is no age at all.

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**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/2 "2017-07-09T15:59:57Z")

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Lafayette was an icon and often the best thing about _True Blood_, but I was also really enjoying Ellis’s work on _Elementary_. I’d hoped that his role as Shinwell – an ex-con ex-gang member – would help him avoid typecasting and open even more doors for him.

☹

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**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/3 "2017-07-09T18:10:12Z")

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I was sorry to hear this. I was looking forward to seeing more of him on _Elementary_ as well.

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/4 "2017-07-09T18:47:07Z")

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Heart failure at 39? Yikes!! RIP, Nelsan.

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/5 "2017-07-10T07:49:34Z")

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> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> Lafayette was an icon and often the best thing about _True Blood_, but I was also really enjoying Ellis’s work on _Elementary_. I’d hoped that his role as Shinwell – an ex-con ex-gang member – would help him avoid typecasting and open even more doors for him.
> 
> ☹

Shinwell was Lafayette? :eek: I never recognised him!

And yeah, this is sad, so young.

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/6 "2017-07-10T09:29:53Z")

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> [@Sunny\_Daze](#):
>
> I was looking forward to seeing more of him on _Elementary_ as well.

Well, that wasn’t going to happen. His character died.

He was genuinely good on _Elementary_, though, even if his storyline kind of meandered a bit. A powerful performance.

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**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/7 "2017-07-10T16:59:09Z")

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> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> Shinwell was Lafayette? :eek: I never recognised him!

Yeah, I recognized something in his voice before anything else.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/8 "2017-07-11T01:40:09Z")

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Family is saying it was alcohol withdrawal.

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**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/9 "2017-07-12T09:28:37Z")

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> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Family is saying it was alcohol withdrawal.

Ouch. If that was the case, if he had heart failure due to going through alcohol withdrawal syndrome, that means that very likely he went into full-blown delirium tremens \>.\<

That is a horrendously nasty way to go. I am a bit puzzled, though – if he was a heavy enough drinker that he would end up going into severely dangerous withdrawal territory, he _ **should** _ have been quitting alcohol under the watchful eye of a doctor, in order to minimize the chances that something like this would happen… Was he following a medically supervised detox program?

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**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/10 "2017-07-12T13:51:12Z")

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> [@GuanoLad](#):
>
> Well, that wasn’t going to happen. His character died.
> 
> He was genuinely good on _Elementary_, though, even if his storyline kind of meandered a bit. A powerful performance.

I think I missed an episode…

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nelsan-ellis-has-died/790792/11 "2017-07-12T14:55:58Z")

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> [@Sunny\_Daze](#):
>
> I think I missed an episode…

S05E22 - Moving Targets.