Roger E. Mosley, TV and Film Actor Known for His Role on 'Magnum P.I.' , Dead at 83: 'Rest Easy'
His daughter Ch-a shared in a Facebook post on Saturday that a "major car accident" left her father "paralyzed from the shoulders down"
He was not on the list.
Roger E. Mosley, a television and film star best known for his role as helicopter pilot Theodore "T.C." Calvin on Magnum P.I., has died. He was 83.
Mosley's daughter, Ch-a Mosley, confirmed the news of his death in a statement shared on Facebook Sunday.
"Roger E. Mosley, my father, your friend, your 'coach Mosley' your "TC" from Magnum P.I., passed away at 1:17am," she wrote on social media. "He was surrounded by family as he transcended peacefully."
Noting that she and her family "could never mourn such an amazing man," Ch-a said her father "would HATE any crying done in his name."
"It is time to celebrate the legacy he left for us all. I love you daddy. You loved me too. My heart is heavy but I am strong," she added. "I will care for mommy, your love of almost 60 years. You raised me well and she is in good hands. Rest easy."
Roger E. Mosley, who portrayed Theodore “T.C.” Calvin, the helicopter pilot and buddy of Tom Selleck’s character on all eight seasons of the original Magnum, P.I., died Sunday. He was 83.
Mosley died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of injuries incurred in a car accident in nearby Lynwood three days earlier, his daughter, Ch-a, told The Hollywood Reporter.
On the big screen, Mosley was at his most memorable as blues and folk singer Huddie Ledbetter (“The Midnight Special”) in the period piece Leadbelly (1976), directed by Gordon Parks. In his review, Roger Ebert wrote that Mosley played the part “with great strength” and called the film “one of the best biographies of a musician I’ve ever seen.”
Mosley also was a standout in blaxploitation films, playing the angry brother of the fresh-out-of-prison Goldie (Max Julien) in the classic The Mack (1973) and starring in Hit Man (1972), Sweet Jesus, Preacherman (1973) and Darktown Strutters (1975).
And in The Greatest (1977), Mosley — a sturdy 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds in his prime — portrayed Sonny Liston and got whupped by Muhammad Ali.
The likable actor appeared on 158 of the 162 episodes of CBS’ Magnum, P.I., created by Donald Bellisario and Glen A. Larson. T.C. was a buddy of Selleck’s Thomas Magnum from their days in Vietnam; his character owned a helicopter charter company in Oahu called Island Hoppers, which came in handy on the series that aired from December 1980 through May 1988.
According to Mosley, Gerald McRaney was all set to play T.C. before the producers realized they needed a person of color in the main cast. Selleck thought of Mosley from a prison film they had done together, 1973’s Terminal Island, and suggested him for the part.
The Los Angeles native was busy making movies at the time and didn’t want a job on a television show, but his agent talked him into at least doing the Magnum pilot.
As Mosley remembered it, his agent told him: ” ‘It’s starring this guy Tom Selleck. Tom Selleck has made about five pilot shows … and none of them has sold. So here’s what you do, Roger: Sign up for the show, go over to Hawaii, they’ll treat you good for the 20 days it will take to shoot the [pilot], you’ll get a lot of money, and then you come home. A show with Tom Selleck always fails, and you’ll be fine.’
“Well, 8 1/2 years later … “
Mosley in real life was a licensed private helicopter pilot (something the producers discovered after he was hired, he said) but not allowed to fly on the series.
At the start, the writers had T.C. as the owner of a struggling helicopter business, but Mosley refused to “be the only Black person in Hawaii and be broke,” he said. “And they reversed. They decided Tom would be broke, and I would be financially well off — except I was always bailing him out.”
Mosley also made his character a graduate of Grambling State University, a lover of books and poetry, and a guy who didn’t party.
“They [the Magnum writers] keep writing for me to smoke and drink, but I won’t do it,” he said in a 1982 interview in Ebony. “I never get high, smoke or drink on the show or in real life. That’s not what I want Black kids to see.”
Born on Dec. 18, 1938, Roger Earl Mosley was raised by his mother, Eloise, in the Imperial Courts project in Watts. He was a wrestler in high school and a swimming coach in the neighborhood.
As recounted in a 1976 People story, Mosley was studying acting under Raymond St. Jacques at the Mafundi Institute, a community arts school in Watts, when a director from Universal came to lecture the students on self-sacrifice and said, “I know actors who had to eat ketchup sandwiches.”
Mosley got up and shouted: “You have the audacity to tell us to eat ketchup sandwiches for our art. I know people who are eating ketchup sandwiches to survive. We need somebody to give us a break.”
The director invited Mosley to visit the studio the next week.
Mosley made one of his first onscreen appearances in 1971 on an episode of CBS’ Cannon, then had small roles in The New Centurions (1972) and Hickey & Boggs (1972).
He later worked with John Wayne in McQ (1974); with James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson and Louis Gossett Jr. in The River Niger (1976); and, as football player Puddin Patterson Sr., in Semi-Tough (1977), starring Burt Reynolds.
Post-Magnum, he starred opposite Nell Carter on the CBS sitcom You Take the Kids, as Coach Ricketts on ABC’s Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper and as Milt Johnson on Showtime’s Rude Awakening. He also appeared in the movies Heart Condition (1990), Unlawful Entry (1992), Pentathlon (1994) and A Thin Line Between Love & Hate (1996).
He also starred in the television series Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (1992–1993) as Coach Ricketts in a recurring role with comedian/actor Mark Curry, and in the film A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996) with Martin Lawrence, Lynn Whitfield, and Bobby Brown.
He also appeared as a celebrity guest on The $25,000 Pyramid for a week's worth of shows in July 1983, July 1984, and June 1985.
Survivors also include his wife, Antoinette (“Toni”) — they were together for nearly 60 years — son Brandonn; grandson Austin; and Rahsan, among his many nieces and nephews
Film
Year Title Role(s)
1972 The New Centurions Truck Driver
Hickey & Boggs
Hit Man Huey
1973 The Mack Olinga Mickens
Sweet Jesus, Preacherman Holmes / Lee
Terminal Island Monk
1974 McQ Rosey
1975 Darktown Strutters Mellow
1976 The River Niger Big Moe Hayes
Stay Hungry Newton
Leadbelly Huddie Ledbetter
Drum Slave
1977 The Greatest Sonny Liston
Big Time J.J.
Semi-Tough Puddin Patterson Sr.
1978 Cruise Into Terror Nathan
1979 The Jericho Mile Cotton Crown
Steel Lionel
1980 Attica Frank Green
Pray TV Willie Washington/Leroy Washington
1981 The White Lions John Kani
1990 Heart Condition Captain Wendt
1992 Unlawful Entry Officer Roy Cole
1994 Pentathlon John Creese
1996 A Thin Line Between Love and Hate Smitty
1998 Letters from a Killer Horton
2000 Walker, Texas Ranger Carter
Hammerlock Sgt. James Hammer
Partial Television Credits
Year Title Role Notes
1971 Cannon Porter Episode: "Death Is a Double-Cross"
1972 Sanford and Son Norman Blood Episode: "Blood is Thicker than Junk "
1974 Kojak Stutz Episode: "You Can't Tell a Hurt Man How to Holler "
1974 Kung Fu Seth Episode: "In Uncertain Bondage "
1975 McCloud Dolan Episode: "Return to The Alamo "
1975 Switch Walter Episode: "Las Vegas Roundabout "
1975 The Rookies Rawlins Episode: "Dead Heat "
1975 Baretta Det. Rudy Davis Episode: "Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth "
1977 Starsky & Hutch The Baron Episode: "The Set-Up: Part 2 "
1979 Starsky & Hutch Big Red McGee Episode: "Huggy Can't Go Home "
1979 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Bailey Sr. TV Movie
1980-1988 Magnum, P.I. Theodore 'TC' Calvin 158 episodes
1986 Danger Bay Hari Mubaru Episode: "The Leopard's Spots "
1987 The Love Boat Jeffrey T. Gilbert Episode: "Who Killed Maxwell Thorn? "
1992-1993 Hangin' with Mr. Cooper Coach Ricketts 10 episodes
1994 The Sinbad Show Sgt. Al Beckley Episode: "Adoption: Part 2 "
RoboCop Frank Uno Episode: "Ghosts of War"
1996 Women: Stories of Passion Freddy Episode: "The Boxer"
In the House Buff Episode: "To Die For"
1999-2000 Rude Awakening Milton 'Milt' Johnson 20 episodes
2001 Arliss Mudcat Burrell Episode: "Like No Business I Know"
2003 What Should You Do? Kidnapper
The District Temple's Father Episode: "Bloodlines"
2007 Las Vegas Roger Episode: "When Life Gives You Lemon Bars"
2019; 2021 Magnum P.I. John Booky 2 episodes
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