Nelsan Ellis, the actor best known for playing Lafayette Reynolds on True Blood on HBO, has died at the age of 39 due to complications from heart failure. “We were extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Nelsan Ellis,” HBO said in a statement. “Nelsan was a long-time member of the HBO family ... [and] will be dearly missed by his fans and all of us at HBO.” Ellis also starred in Elementary, Get On Up, and The Butler.
