Brad William Henke, 'Orange Is the New Black' Actor and Former NFL Star, Dead at 56

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Michael Tran/FilmMagic

Brad William Henke, the formerNFLplayer andOrange Is the New Blackactor, has died, PEOPLE confirms. He was 56.

The Screen Actors Guild Award winnerdied in his sleepon Monday, his family told Deadline. A cause of death was not made available, and a rep for Henke did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Born April 10, 1966, in Columbus, Nebraska, Henke was raised in Littleton, Colorado, before he served as football team captain at the University of Arizona. There, he played as a defensive lineman and studied as an All-Academic student journalist.

The retired athlete then transitioned into acting, with roles in such films asSpace Jam(1996),Gone in 60 Seconds(2000),Must Love Dogs(2005),World Trade Center(2006),Hollywoodland(2006),Short Term 12(2009),Pacific Rim(2013),Pee-wee’s Big Holiday(2016) andSplit(2016).

JoJo Whilden/Netflix

The actor married actress Katelin Chesna in 2001 after working together on his short-lived Showtime seriesGoing to California. Before their divorce in 2008, Henke spoke to PEOPLE about starting a family with Chesna.

“We got a dog named Puggles and that made us more of a family,” he said in 2006. “Then we decided to get a house! And now we’re adopting a 14-year-old foster child.”

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source: people.com