Badja Djola
Badja Medu Djola (April 9, 1948 – January 8, 2005) born Bernard Bradley, was an American actor from Brooklyn, New York. Djola appeared in 47 films and TV shows during his career.
Badja Djola | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 9, 1948 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 8, 2005 (aged 56) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
Career
Djola's breakout role was as Leon Isaac Kennedy’s cellmate in the movie Penitentiary. Djola played the villainous character "Half Dead." He showed exceptional acting talent in the movie, which led to several castings in major feature films. He also had a supporting role in Wes Craven’s 1988 movie The Serpent and the Rainbow. Djola was best known as a thug Bruce Willis kills after making him laugh in The Last Boy Scout and as an FBI agent in Mississippi Burning who intimidates a racist mayor played by R. Lee Ermey.
Djola's other film and TV credits include A Rage in Harlem, The Lonely Guy, NYPD Blue, Rosewood, Who's the Man, The Hurricane, Night Shift, The Waterdance, ER, The X Files, Millennium and Roc. He also had a role in The Players Club starring Ice Cube. Djola's final performance was in Back in the Day, working alongside Ja Rule, Pam Grier and Frank Langella.
Death
Djola died of a heart attack on January 8, 2005, aged 56. He is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.
Partial filmography
- The Main Event (1979) - Heavyweight In Gym
- Penitentiary (1979) - 'Half Dead' Johnson
- Night Shift (1982) - Cleon
- The Lonely Guy (1984) - Native
- The Lightship (1985) - Nate
- The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) - Gaston
- Mississippi Burning (1988) - Agent Monk
- An Innocent Man (1989) - John Fitzgerald
- A Rage in Harlem (1991) - Slim
- The Last Boy Scout (1991) - Alley Thug
- The Waterdance (1992) - Decton
- Eddie Presley (1992) - Drycleaner (uncredited)
- Who's the Man? (1993) - Lionel Douglas
- Heaven's Prisoners (1996) - Batist
- Rosewood (1997) - John Bradley
- The Brave (1997) - Rider
- Gunshy (1998) - Abel
- The Players Club (1998) - The Doctor
- Butter (1998) - Roscoe
- Deterrence (1999) - Harvey
- The Hurricane (1999) - Mobutu
- Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel (2000) - Fast Eddie
- The Price of Air (2000) - Sugar
- Night at the Golden Eagle (2001) - Gabriel
- Back in the Day (2005) - Grant Brown
- Slipdream (2005) - Sahdu (final film role)