"It's very interesting that most of the roles I've gotten are grim, when I'm actually a very well-adjusted man and had a happy upbringing. I guess there are some dark shadows somewhere in there, but I'm a big kid."
Anthony Tiran Todd (born December 4, 1954 in Washington, D.C.) is an American actor, best known for his deep, gravelly voice, large stature, and roles as the eponymous character in Candyman and as William Bludworth in the Final Destination films.
He is, perhaps, the Scary Black Man of Hollywood (next to Keith David, anyway).
Filmography:
- Platoon (1986) — Warren
- Simon & Simon (1987) — Troy Tolliver
- Werewolf (1987) — Charlie
- 21 Jump Street (1987) — Aaron Jackson
- Colors (1988) — Vietnam veteran
- Lean on Me (1989) — Mr. William Wright
- Night Court (1989) — Mr. Crumrine
- MacGyver (1989) — Zimba
- Star Trek: The Next Generation (1990-91) — Kurn, son of Mogh
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995) — Adult Jake Sisko, Kurn
- Night of the Living Dead (1990) — Ben
- Matlock (1990) — Billy Pierce
- Cop Rock (1990) — Omar
- Jake and the Fatman (1990-91) — Jordan Lee
- Father Dowling Mysteries (1991) — Lou
- Candyman (1992) — The Candyman (Daniel Robitaille)
- Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)
- Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999)
- Candyman (2021)
- The Crow (1994) — Grange
- Law & Order (1994) — Reverend Ott
- The X-Files (1994) — Augustus Cole
- Homicide: Life on the Street (1994) — Matt Rhodes
- Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995, 1998) — Gladius, Gilgamesh
- Murder, She Wrote (1996) — NSA Agent Nathan Mitchell
- Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus (1996) — Seth
- The Rock (1996) — Cpt. Darrow
- New York Undercover (1996) — Andrew Bryant
- Beverly Hills, 90210 (1996) — Dr. Julius Tate
- NYPD Blue (1997) — Detective Eddie Hazell
- Xena: Warrior Princess (1997) — Cecrops
- Wishmaster (1997) — Johnny Valentine
- Star Trek: Voyager (1998) — Alpha Hirogen
- Babylon 5: A Call to Arms (1999) — Captain Leonard Anderson
- The Legend of Dragoon (1999) — FMV Narrator (voice)
- Final Destination — William Bludworth
- Final Destination (2000)
- Final Destination 2 (2003)
- Final Destination 3 (2006) — Devil's Flight announcer (voice)
- Final Destination 5 (2011)
- Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
- Angel (2000) — Vyasa
- Smallville (2001) — Earl
- Crossing Jordan (2002) — Coach Jim Evans
- Boston Public (2002) — Lester Lipschultz
- Andromeda (2002) — Captain Fehdman Metis
- Charmed (2002) — Avatar of Force
- The District (2002-03) — Stanley Carver
- CSI: Miami (2002) — Sergeant Marcus Cawdrey
- Star Trek: Elite Force II (2003) — Korban (voice)
- Scarecrow Slayer (2003) — Caleb Kilgore
- 24 (2004, 2009)— Detective Michael Norris, General Benjamin Juma
- What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2005) — Gargoyle (voice)
- The Prophecy: Forsaken (2005) — Stark
- Stargate SG-1 (2005-06) — Lord Haikon
- Night Stalker (2005) — Detective
- Criminal Minds (2005) — Eric Miller
- Minotaur (2006) — King Deucalion
- Hatchet (2006) — Rev. Zombie
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2006) — Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
- Masters of Horror (2006) — The Beast
- Chuck (2007-08, 2011) — CIA Director Graham
- Boston Legal (2007) — Detective Walter Berenson
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007) — Vortigaunts (voice)
- Half-Life: Alyx (2020) — Gary the Vortigaunt (voice)
- Without a Trace (2007) — Dr. Carl Williams
- The Man from Earth (2007) — Dan
- Nite Tales: The Movie (2008) — Clown/James
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2009) — Asteroth (voice)
- Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen (2009) — The Fallen (voice)
- Psych (2009) — Detective Moses Johnson
- Star Trek Online (2010) — Rodek (voice)
- Hatchet II (2010) — Rev. Zombie
- The Event (2010) — General Whitman
- Symbionic Titan (2010) — Shaman (voice)
- Jack the Reaper (2011) — Mr. Steele
- Hawaii Five-0 (2012) — Jordan Nevins
- Transformers: Prime (2012) — Dreadwing (voice)
- Young Justice (2012-13) — Augustus Freeman / Icon (voice)
- Holliston (2012) — Himself
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012) — Admiral Tommy Briggs (voice)
- The Young and the Restless (2013) — Gus Rogan
- Dota 2 (2013) — Dragon Knight, Night Stalker, Viper (voice)
- Bravest Warriors (2014) — Aeon Worm (voice)
- LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes (2015) — Darkseid (voice)
- Frankenstein (2015) — Eddie
- The Flash (2015-16, 2018) — Zoom (voice)
- Dead of Summer (2016) — Tall Man / Holyoke
- Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! (2017) — Reggie, Space Kook, Captain Lewis (voice)
- Room 104 (2017) — The Father
- Death House (2017) — Farmer Asa
- Riverdale (2017) — Farmer McGinty
- Hell Fest (2018) — The Barker
- Artifact (2018) — Viper (voice)
- DC Animated Movie Universe — Darkseid (voice)
- Reign of the Supermen (2019)
- Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)
- The Orville (2019) — Moclan Delegate
- Layers of Fear 2 (2019) — Director (voice)
- Scream: Resurrection (2019) — Luther "Hook Man" Thompson
- Bulletproof 2 (2020) — Special Agent Battle
- Tales from the Hood 3 (2020) — William
- Sky Sharks (2020) — Major Gen. Frost
- DOTA: Dragon's Blood (2021) — Slyrak (voice)
- Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021) — Scare Glow (voice)
- Back 4 Blood (2021) — Dr. Rogers (voice)
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (2023) — Venom (voice)
Related Tropes:
- Alliterative Name: Tony Todd.
- Baritone of Strength: Even when he's not going into truly demonic territory, his voice remains deep and powerful, well-suited to playing dangerous characters.
- The Big Guy: He stands 6'5" and usually towers over his co-stars.
- Cast as a Mask: His distinctive voice was used for Zoom in The Flash (2014) to keep the real actor under the mask secret. This also applies to Venom in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.
- Catchphrase: Several of his characters make liberal use of the word "cocksucker."
- Evil Is Bigger: His imposing 6'5 frame enforces this trope whenever he's a villain.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Whenever he plays a villain, his gravelly voice makes them sound especially intimidating.
- Large and in Charge: He is often cast as leaders and authority figures, no doubt helped by his imposing stature.
- Magical Negro: In the Final Destination films, his character seems to know more than everyone else about Death's plans and how to foil them. Played with in that his advice is not meant to enrich those characters' lives.
- Playing Against Type:
- As the superhero Icon in Young Justice.
- And as Big Good Admiral Briggs in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
- Played with in Criminal Minds where he plays a convicted criminal that scares the hell out of Reid. He turned out to be a Red Herring to a more vicious criminal.
- The adult Jake Sisko in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, perhaps his most dramatically demanding onscreen role ever.
- Eddie, a blind blues guitarist in a modernized version of Frankenstein.
- As the Vortigaunts in Half-Life 2: Episode Two, a race of mysterious and ultimately peaceful and benevolent aliens. He gets to play even more against type as a brain-damaged Vortigaunt in Half-Life: Alyx, who is eccentric, hammy, and goofy.
- He played a comedic version of himself on Holliston.
- Scary Black Man: Many of his roles, but perhaps none moreso than the Candyman. It should be said though, that is brand of scary is far from the stereotype associated with this trope; his voice is better suited to raising the dead than quoting Bible verses with a gun. By far the straightest example of the trope that he played is Captain Darrow from The Rock.
- Two First Names: Both Tony and Todd are common first names.
