Keith Jefferson, frequent Quentin Tarantino collaborator, dies aged 53

Keith Jefferson, the actor known for his roles in several Quentin Tarantino movies, has died aged 53.

The actor, who took on minor roles in Django Unchained, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Hateful Eight, announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer via Instagram on August 9th, 2023.

Shortly after Jefferson’s passing on Thursday, October 5th, the actor’s friend and colleague Jamie Foxx posted a touching tribute on his Instagram page. “Keith, you’ve been nothing but absolute grace, your whole life your heart is pure your love is immeasurable you were an amazing soul,” Foxx captioned the post.

“We will all miss you dearly. It’s gonna take a long time for this to heal,” Foxx wrote. “Goodbye, my friend. I love you.”

“Everything hurts right now having a hard time looking through these pictures reliving the memories of us having a great time going to miss you man gonna miss you,” Foxx added in a separate post.

“Since we met back in college, you have been in incredible soul God rest, NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE TO SEE THE WORDS ABOUT MY FRIEND RIP @keith.jefferson Keith”

On top of his acting talents, Jefferson took on work as a producer, voiceover artist and drama teacher. He first shared the screen with Foxx in 1998 for two episodes of The Jamie Foxx Show.

In addition to his Tarantino roles, Jefferson appeared in Foxx’s 2022 movie Day Shift and Maggie Betts’ movie The Burial, which premieres in cinemas on October 6th.

Jefferson posted the trailer for The Burial on his Instagram page last month. “It’s finally here and what a blessing it was to work on this film with an amazing group of actors,” he captioned. “Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones along with an all-star cast and my most important role to date.”

See the preview for The Burial and Jamie Foxx’s tributes below.

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