American actor Granville Adams has passed away due to cancer, aged 58. Best known for playing the character Zahir Arif on hit HBO drama series, Oz, set at a fictional men's prison, the veteran actor was diagnosed with the disease last December. The news of Adam' demise was announced by Tom Fontana, Oz creator, on Instagram, who shared a photo of the actor and wrote, "Goodnight, sweet prince/and flights of angels sing thee to they rest." Outside of his work on Oz, Granville Adams also had a recurring role as Officer Jeff Westby on the NBC series, Homicide: Life on the Street.
A GoFundMe was started by Fontana and Adams' Oz co-star Dean Winters sometime back in order to raise money for the medical care expenses for the actor. Winters extended his condolences and wrote, "All of my photos of Granville Adams were lost, except for this one. How fitting is this? Us on the cover of TWILO magazine (@chris_meloni our middle man) We shot this on a Monday after being there all day Sunday, we were like young Lion Cubs who constantly broke away from the pack, only to come back to the tribe with our tails between our legs and gigantic, shit eating grins. I first met Granny in 1992 and I immediately drank the Kool Aid. His smile was infectious, his chuckle was intoxicating. He never, ever spoke ill of anyone and I defy anyone who knew him to say anything negative about this man. Granville was beloved, period. He may as well have had people throwing rose petals at his feet while he walked down the street. A humble, beautiful soul who just elevated the afterlife to a whole new level. You will be missed my friend. You are my brother and I’m a better human being for knowing you RIP G Respect."
Kirk Acevedo, who plays the lead in Oz, tweeted, "I lost my brotha today after a long battle with cancer, I don’t do well with loss because I’m unfamiliar with it. Yo Granny we’ll be chopping it up on the other side one day. Until then… Rest easy my friend." Lost and Sons of Anarchy actor Harold Perrineau, who appeared alongside Adams in Oz, posted a picture of Adams on Instagram with the caption, "You can’t always cry, sometimes you’ve got to celebrate the time you had together. Brittany and I love this man and the entire group of family/friends that we all created. Sleep well Prince! We’ll see each other again."
I lost my brotha today after a long battle with cancer.
— KID VICIOUS🔪 (@kirkacevedo) October 10, 2021
I don’t do well with loss because I’m unfamiliar with it.
Yo Granny we’ll be chopping it up on the other side one day.
Until then…
Rest easy my friend.
Granville AdamsðŸ™ðŸ¼ pic.twitter.com/mL04Mw4wjY