Grizz Chapman, best known for appearing on NBC’s sitcom 30 Rock, has died. He was 52.
Chapman’s co-star, Kevin Brown, on the series, confirmed in a Facebook post that he died Friday. “I regret to inform you that Mack Chapman aka Grizz Chapman passed today,” he wrote in a caption of photos of them in the show. “May he RIP.”
For all seven seasons, Chapman appeared on 30 Rock. He played Grizz Griswold, a bodyguard and member of Tracy Jordan’s (played by Tracy Morgan) entourage. Meanwhile, Brown played Tracy’s other bodyguard, Dot Com. Chapman and Jordan met when Chapman was working as a bouncer at a strip club and they went on to become friends.
Born on April 16, 1974, in New York City, the actor, who stands seven feet tall, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter in 2013 about the difficulties he’s faced because of his physique.
“I mean, why can’t a seven-foot guy play a doctor?” he asked rhetorically. “Why can’t I be a teacher? Why can’t I be a football coach? Why can’t I be a cab driver? Anything. Anything else than that,” he said. “I can cry. I can do those things that they think the big guys can’t do. So just give us a chance.”
Chapman has also appeared in Tom McCarthy’s (Spotlight, 13 Reasons Why) 2014 film, The Cobbler alongside Adam Sandler and Steve Buscemi. Additional acting credits include Money Monster, Life of the Party, Blue Bloods, The Blacklist and Common Sense Police, among others.
While a cause of death has yet to be announced, Chapman has previously struggled with health, kidney disease and received a kidney transplant in 2010. He also served as a spokesperson for the National Kidney Foundation.
He is survived by his wife and two children.
