Tony Todd Passes at 69.

An immense figure for Star Trek and genre entertainment! Best remembered on Trek by his portrayal of Kurn and, most importantly, an adult Jake on "The Visitor". His acting on that episode is just superb, so honest.

His filmography is vast, but I want to highlight an "obscure" (well, not really obscure, but kind of forgotten and people should talk about it all the time), The Man From Earth. In this utterly entrancing "scifi of the mind" film, Todd plays the anthropologist who is moved to tears because any scientist is really searching for the ultimate truth. That Todd committed himself to this sort of project, conceptual film making, tells a lot about his approach to his craft. Great artist.

I just finished a rewatch. What a brilliant, little film! Who says that you need big budget and huge special effects? Script, acting, directing, those are the main ingredients of movies. In this case the script is so fraking good! I just found out that it won many best screenplay awards, and that they even make a sequel, but after Bixby died and it did not received good reviews. 

This might be my 4th or 5th rewatch. The movie is basically eventless, nothing happens, and yet... I don't know how the script do it but it pulled me in as not many movies do. It is like hypnosis the way the words engage your mind. Even acknowledging some glaring shortcomings, like how poorly the women characters are drawn, the film succeed in making you think deeply about its subjects. And not because this thread is a Tony Todd homage, but his character is the most interesting of the lot. Give it a try!