*“It is with profound sadness and an unimaginable heaviness in my heart that I share the passing of my beloved husband, Michael Wright.” With those words, Susan Wright announced the death of the actor whose unforgettable Eddie King Jr. helped turn “The Five Heartbeats” into a Black cinema classic. He was 70.
Susan announced her husband’s death Friday evening on Instagram. The family did not disclose a cause in her statement, saying additional information would be shared when they are ready.
“In the coming days, when we are ready, we will share additional information regarding Michael’s life, legacy, and how we intend to honor and celebrate him,” she wrote in the statement.
For audiences who knew Wright through nearly five decades of screen work, the news closes the book on a career that included “The Wanderers,” “Streamers,” “V,” “The Principal,” “Sugar Hill” and HBO’s “Oz.” But for generations of “Five Heartbeats” fans, Wright will forever be Eddie King Jr.
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Michael Wright Found Eddie King Jr. in David Ruffin
Wright played the gifted but troubled Eddie in Robert Townsend’s 1991 musical drama about the rise, struggles and brotherhood of a fictional R&B vocal group.
Years later, Wright told EURweb exactly where he found the DNA for Eddie: David Ruffin of The Temptations.
“I studied the performances of David Ruffin of The Temptations and I emulated the character Eddie after the image of David Ruffin of The Temptations,” Wright said. “So he’s adopted after him. No question about it.”
Wright said portraying a singer also brought him closer to the music he had admired growing up, including The Temptations, The Four Tops and The Dells.
“I wasn’t a singer, but I was playing a singer,” he told EURweb, calling the opportunity to inhabit that musical world “extraordinary.”
His Castmates Called Wright Their ‘Acting Captain’
The performance didn’t merely resonate with audiences.
When EURweb spoke with members of the “Five Heartbeats” family for the film’s 25th anniversary, Tico Wells — who played Choir Boy — placed Wright’s performance alongside the best he’d seen.
“Michael Wright was our acting captain,” Wells told EURweb. “He was our acting inspiration. He’s that good.”
Townsend offered similarly emphatic praise in a separate EURweb interview, recalling how Wright delivered the emotional weight required for Eddie even when scenes were filmed outside the story’s chronological order.
“All of that is Michael Wright as an actor delivering a brilliant performance,” Townsend said.
The director also recalled his disappointment when “The Five Heartbeats” failed to connect at the box office. Townsend believed Wright’s work deserved awards consideration. Then something unexpected happened: television and home video gave the movie another life.
People started recognizing the actors on the street. The cast began calling one another as they realized the movie audiences initially missed was becoming something much bigger.
A Career That Went Far Beyond Eddie King Jr.
Wright’s career began on screen with 1979’s “The Wanderers,” in which he played Clinton. In Robert Altman’s 1983 drama “Streamers,” Wright and his principal male castmates collectively received the Venice Film Festival’s Best Actor honor.
Television audiences also knew him as Elias Taylor from the “V” franchise and, years later, as Omar White on HBO’s prison drama “Oz.”
Still, Susan’s announcement emphasized that Wright’s résumé tells only part of his story.
“Michael was a husband, a father, a grandfather, loved one, a friend, and an extraordinary artist whose work touched generations,” she wrote.
“His talent, presence, and contributions to film and television will live on, but to those of us who loved him personally, he was so much more than the roles the world knew him for.”
The Man Behind a Performance That Kept Growing
That distinction between Wright and the characters he played feels especially fitting for an actor whose most famous performance grew in stature long after its theatrical release.
“The Five Heartbeats” became a cultural favorite through repeat television airings and home viewing, while Wright’s volatile, wounded and magnetic Eddie remained at the center of its emotional pull.
His own castmates had already put into words what audiences continued discovering: beneath Eddie King Jr. was an actor they considered one of their best.
Susan Wright closed her announcement not with the roles, awards or credits, but with the man her family knew.
“Michael, your work will live forever, but your love will live even longer in the hearts of those who knew you best,” she wrote. “Rest peacefully, my love. You will be missed beyond words.”
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