(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Actor Powers Boothe, known for his roles in Sin City, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Deadwood, has died at 68, his publicist, Karen Samfilippo, said.
Powers Boothe Cause of Death
The Emmy-winning actor passed away Sunday of natural causes in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles. Samfilippo said a private service will be held in his home state of Texas and the his family is also considering a memorial celebration in his honor at a future date.
Boothe made a name for himself playing memorable villains and appearing in Westerns. His role as Cy Tolliver in the HBO series Deadwood brought him much critical acclaim.
In 1980, Boothe won an Emmy or Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Special for his role in the TV movie Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones.
Unlike many of the nominees and presenters who were boycotting the Emmy ceremony as part of the Screen Actors Guild Strike, Boothe accepted his Emmy in person.
“This is either the most courageous moment of my careers or the stupidest,” he said at the time of his acceptance.
In recent years, audiences saw Boothe as the evil Senator Roark in Sin City and as Gideon Malick on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Boothe also co-starred with Lea Thompson in the popular 1984 war film Red Dawn.
Boothe grew up on a cotton farm in west Texas. He became the first person in his family to attend college when he went to Texas State University. He first began to consider acting as a career when he received a fellowship to enroll in a Southern Methodist University graduate program.
“Before that, I never thought about it,” he said in a 2012 interview with American Profile magazine. “To me, going to L.A. or New York was like going to the moon!”
