Nelsan Ellis, best-known for playing Lafayette Reynolds on the hit vampire drama True Blood, has died aged 39 it has been confirmed.
The actor died from complications from heart failure. No other details about his death have been officially released at this time.
A statement from HBO, the network behind True Blood, said: āWe were extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Nelsan Ellis. Nelsan was a long-time member of the HBO family whose groundbreaking portrayal of Lafayette will be remembered fondly within the overall legacy of True Blood. Nelsan will be dearly missed by his fans and all of us at HBO.ā
Since news of Ellis’ death broke during the night, many of his former True Blood co-stars such as Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Deborah Ann Woll have paid tribute to him on social media.
As well as starring in True Blood, Ellis appeared in the hit film The Help and was in the most recent series of Elementary.