Brad William Henke obit

Brad William Henke Dies: ‘Orange Is The New Black’, ‘Justified’ & ‘Dexter’ Actor Was 56

 

He was not on the list.

Brad William Henke, a former NFL player who segued to acting and appeared in TV series including Orange Is the New Black, Justified and Lost and such films as Pacific Rim and World Trade Center, has died. He was 56. His family said Henke died in his sleep November 29, but no cause was given.

Born on April 10, 1966, in Columbus, Nebraska, and raised in Littleton, Colorado, Henke played college football at the University of Arizona, where he was team captain and an All-Academic student journalist. Drafted by the New York Giants in 1989, he went on to play on the defensive line for the Denver Broncos and appeared in Super Bowl XXIV. He also played for the Forth Worth Calvary of the Arena Football League.

After injuries forced him to retire in 1994, Henke moved to Los Angeles to pursue coaching. An open call for “big guys” to do a commercial soon led to a new career. He began to score guest spots on such TV series as ER, Chicago Hope, Silk Stockings, Nash Bridges and Arli$$ and continued to work regularly until this year, racking up nearly 100 credits.

The actor landed his first major recurring role on the 2000-02 WB Network comedy Nikki, starring Nikki Cox, and was cast as a lead opposite Sam Trammell in Showtime’s road-trip dramedy Going to California, which lasted one season.

Along with more guest roles on series including CSI, Crossing Jordan and Judging Amy, Henke had small parts in a number of features during the early 2000s. He appeared in The Assassination of Richard Nixon, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Must Love Dogs, The Zodiac, North Country, World Trade Center and Hollywoodland before being cast on Showtime’s Dexter as Tony Tucci, a murder suspect-turned-near-victim who recurred in four episodes.

Henke got his second series-regular role on ABC’s short-lived 2007 drama October Road.

After that, he guested on such series as Law & Order, Life on Mars and CSI: Miami before being cast on ABC’s Lost as Bram, recurring on a half-dozen episodes in in 2009-10. Henke went on to play Coover Bennett in seven Season 2 episodes of FX’s Justified and did an arc on Fox’s 2011 Shawn Ryan drama The Chicago Code.

He also appeared in the feature Choke, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and shared a Special Jury Prize for its ensemble cast. Henke also did mid-2010s arcs on FX’s The Bridge and Prime Video’s Sneaky Pete. He then scored perhaps his best-known role.

Henke was cast in Jenji Kohan’s Showtime dramedy Orange Is the New Black as Desi Piscatella, a gay corrections officer at Litchfield Federal Penitentiary. He appeared in more than two dozen episodes from 2016-18 and shared a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2017. The cast was nominated again the following year.

Henke also recurred as Big John in the second season of Discovery’s Manhunt in 2020 and as Tom Cullen in CBS All Access’ The Stand in 2020-21. His other most recent credits include Law & Order: SVU and the 2022 films Block Party and Run & Gun.

Henke is survived by his mother, Tammy; his sister, Annette; his wife, Sonja; stepson Aaden; stepdaughter Leasa; and grandchild Amirah, hundreds of friends, fellow actors, and students. He was proceeded in death by his father, Bill, to whom he paid tribute with his professional name.

Filmography

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1996      Mr. Wrong          Bob       

1996      Space Jam           Stars Catcher     

1996      The Fan                Tjader  

1999      Dill Scallion         Bartender           

1999      The Thirteenth Floor       Cop #1

2000      Gone in 60 Seconds                         Uncredited

2003      Love Object        Dotson Credited as Brad Henke

2004      The Assassination of Richard Nixon           Martin Jones     

2005      Must Love Dogs                Leo        

2005      The Amateurs    Ron       

2005      North Country   Mr. Lattavansky               

2005      Me and You and Everyone We Know       Andrew               

2006      Sherrybaby         Bobby Swanson               

2006      World Trade Center        Allison's brother              

2006      Hollywoodland Russ Taylor        

2006      Altered Duke     

2008      Choke   Denny  

2008      Around June       Henry   

2009      Short Term 12   Denim   Later adapted into the 2013 film

2010      The Space Between        Will       

2011      The Trouble with Bliss    Steven 'Jetski' Jouseski Also known as East Fifth Bliss

2011      Magic Valley       Jerry Garabrant                

2012      I Am Not a Hipster           Bradley Haines

2012      Struck by Lightning          Principal Gifford              

2013      Jobs       Paul Terrell        

2013      Pacific Rim          Construction foreman   

2013      The Frozen Ground         Carl Galenski     

2014      Draft Day             Tony 'Bagel' Bagli            

2014      Fury       Sgt. Davis             Credited as Brad Henke

2015      Pure Love            Detective Dillard              

2016      The Tank              Dane Hankeard

2016      Pee-wee's Big Holiday    Grizzly Bear Daniels        

2016      Split       John Cooke        

2017      Bright    Dorghu

2018      Cold Brook          Chip      

2019      Wounds               Eric        

2019      Inherit the Viper               Tedd Wallace    

2020      Arkansas              Tim       

2022      Block Party          Buddy Frank      

2023      The Ray                Billings Post-production; posthumous

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1996      Chicago Hope     Freddy Lulenski                 Episode: "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"

1996      Silk Stalkings       Amos Alexander               Episode: "Loyalty"

1996–1997          Nash Bridges      P.J. Pollard / Tommy       2 episodes

1997      Arliss     Zack Bowers       Episode: "A Full Service Agency"

1997      Michael Hayes   Billy Desmore    Episode: "Heroes"

1998      ER           John       Episode: "Think Warm Thoughts"

1998      The Pretender   Jimbo    Episode: "Crazy"

1998      Sports Night       Christian Patrick                Episode: "Mary Pat Shelby"

1998      To Have & to Hold            Christopher Dimatto       Episode: "Hope You Had the Time of Your Wife"

1999      Pensacola: Wings of Gold              Wayne Episode: "Lost"

1999      Martial Law        Buzz Tippitt         Episode: "Breakout"

2000–2001          Going to California           Henry "Hank" Ungalow 20 episodes

2000      The Michael Richards Show         Tommy                 Episode: "The Identity Loan"

2002      Crossing Jordan                 Andy Lebowski Episode: "Secrets & Lies: Part 2"

2002      Providence         Luke English       Episode: "Cloak & Dagger"

2002      Judging Amy       Det. Chris Cross                 2 episodes

2003      CSI: Crime Scene Investigation    George Bartell   Episode: "Fur and Loathing"

2006      Dexter Tony Tucci           4 episodes

2007      Cold Case             Mike Chulaski    Episode: "Cargo"

2008      Law & Order       Ted Sanderson Episode: "Strike"

2008      Life on Mars       Michael H., the Hostage Taker    Episode: "Tuesday's Dead"

2007–2008          October Road    Owen Dennis Rowan       19 episodes

2009–2010          Lost        Bram     6 episodes

2009      Trust Me              Lewis     Episode: "Odd Man Out"

2009      CSI: Miami           Arnold Hollings Episode: "Out of Time"

2009      Solving Charlie   Tom Taylor          Television film

2010      Party Down         Travis    Episode: "Steve Guttenberg's Birthday"

2010      Royal Pains         Roy        Episode: "Whole Lotto Love"

2011      Criminal Minds Steve     Episode: "Sense Memory"

2011      Shameless           Hal Hollander     Episode: "Daddyz Girl"

2011      Justified               Coover Bennett                9 episodes

2011      Grimm Hap Lasser          Episode: "The Three Bad Wolves"

2011      The Chicago Code            Ernie Moosekian              3 episodes

2011      Memphis Beat   Mark Aiden         Episode: "Identity Crisis"

2012      Bones    Melvin Carville Episode: "The Bod in the Pod"

2013      The Office           Frank     Episode: "Vandalism"

2013      Castle    Mark Heller        Episode: "Scared to Death"

2013      Longmire             Sal Vayas             Episode: "Death Came In Like Thunder"

2013–2014          The Bridge           Jim Dobbs            4 episodes

2015      Uncle     Background Singer           Episode: " I'm Back"

2015      Hawaii Five-0     Richie Malloy     Episode: "Luapo'i"

2016–2018          Orange Is the New Black                Desi Piscatella    26 episodes

2016      The Night Shift Clayton Timmons             Episode: "Between a Rock and a Hard Place"

2017      Sneaky Pete       Brendon               6 episodes

2018      MacGyver           Jonah Walsch     Episode: "MacGyver + MacGyver"

2020      Manhunt: Deadly Games              Big John               4 episodes

2020      The Stand            Tom Cullen         6 episodes

2022      Law & Order: Special Victims Unit             Captain Don Kubiak         Episodes: "Once Upon a Time in El Barrio"