Tony Todd died at the age of 69 in November 2024, leaving behind a legacy that could remain unmatched for years, if not decades to come. I recently came across a brief yet powerful tribute to the Candyman actor regarding one of his earliest yet most iconic roles: Ben in Tom Savini’s take on Night of the Living Dead.
I’ve always loved Todd’s version of the hero, first played by Duane Jones in George A. Romero’s iconic zombie movie, but after hearing about his audition for the 1990 remake, I have an even greater appreciation for his powerful performance and the man himself. Here’s the story behind his Night of the Living Dead audition and how it kicked off one of the most legendary careers in horror history.
The 35th anniversary 4K Blu-ray of Night of the Living Dead, which features the never-before-seen “uncut” version that has become the stuff of legend for years, also has an engaging director commentary track. As I’m oft to do when watching one of my favorite movies, I watched it with the commentary, where Savini shared a story about Tony Todd getting the job in the first place, and it’s great:
I haven’t found Ben yet. Tony Todd shows up, grabs me by the lapels, puts me up against the wall, and says, ‘You’ve got to read me, okay?’ … I gave him the script. He walked out, five minutes later, he comes back in, without the script. He knew all the lines and produced tears. I closed the book and said, ‘That’s it, this is Ben.’
Night of the Living Dead is not only a horror remake that doesn’t suck, but also one of my favorite zombie movies ever, and a lot of that has to do with Tony Todd’s portrayal of Ben. The scene where Ben tells Patricia Tallman’s Barbara about a run-in with zombies (the one he auditioned with) remains one of the most powerful moments in horror history after all these years.
Tony Todd Had Been Drawn To The Character Since First Seeing Duane Jones’ Ben In The Original Night Of The Living Dead
If I were building an all-star zombie survival squad, Ben from Night of the Living Dead would be high up on the roster. One of the best black characters in horror movie history is the hero from the 1968 black-and-white classic. With the character’s balance of badassery and humanity, it’s easy to see why Tony Todd wanted to step in for original actor Duane Jones when he found out about the remake. As he told Fangoria in 2009, Jones’ performance gave him a great deal of hope:
I remember seeing the original at a drive-in, and it felt like a documentary, and as an African-American, I was given hope because Duane Jones was able to create a character from beginning to middle to end without any reference to his being African-American.
A few years before his passing, Todd was asked once again by Horror Geek Life to talk about what drew him to the Ben character all those years ago, and his answer was just as insightful:
I remember being so impressed, because up to then I had Sidney Poitier as a role model, and he always seemed a little…all due respect, a little goodie-goodie. Duane’s performance was just raw; it was rock ‘ n ‘ roll. What George and the crew did on that was groundbreaking in horror history.
And he wasn’t wrong. Jones’ version of Ben had such an incredible no-nonsense attitude that helped him survive the night and into the dawn (at least before some hunters got involved).
Getting The Role Had A Massive Impact On Tony Todd’s Career
Night of the Living Dead came out two years before Tony Todd became a horror legend with his portrayal of the titular character in 1992’s Candyman, and getting the part was something that the late actor continued to appreciate decades later. As he told Horror Geek Life in 2020:
Not only did I get to be creative, but it was my first lead role. It was probably my solo introduction into the horror experience and the passion of the horror fans, and it’s been lifting me my whole career.
Though it’s likely Todd would have had a great career even if he hadn’t appeared in Night of the Living Dead, I’m glad I live in a world where he played Ben.
Though both the Oscars and the Emmys failed to honor Tony Todd in their respective in memorium segments, it’s great to see horror junkies like Tom Savini continue to sing his praises.