Thomas Jefferson Byrd III acted with his eyes, his hands, his whole body, displaying a mesmerizing authenticity.
In Spike Lee’s 1995 film “Clockers,” Byrd delivered such an electrifying performance as a murdering drug dealer that fans have posted his scenes on YouTube and watched them tens of thousands of times. As Seal’s hit song “Crazy” plays in the background in one of the scenes, Byrd’s character — his eyes bulging frighteningly — warns against following in his tracks and recalls how his father, a preacher, accurately predicted his drug abuse would cost him.
Nicknamed T-Bird, the Tony Award-nominated actor was fatally shot in the back in Atlanta last weekend. The shooting marked the 106th homicide in Atlanta this year. The city recorded 99 in all of 2019.
Byrd’s killing stunned fellow actors and directors across Atlanta. Kenny Leon, who directed Byrd on stage in August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Piano Lesson,” called him a “chameleon of an artist” who knew how to create characters “from head to toe,” who treated them as “kings and queens,” and who effortlessly exuded authenticity.
“My hands are in it. My toes are in it. My face is in it. My ears are in it. My nose is in it. All of me is in it,” Leon said of Byrd’s acting. “He brought his whole self to everything that he did as an artist. You can’t teach that.”
Byrd regularly performed in regional stage productions of Zora Neale Hurston’s “Spunk,” William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” and Wilson’s “Two Trains Running.” And he acted in numerous Spike Lee films. Among them: “He Got Game,” "Bamboozled, “Red Hook Summer” and “Get on the Bus.”
“Tom is My Guy,” Lee said about his friend on Instagram this week. “May We All Wish Condolences and Blessings To His Family. Rest In Peace Brother Byrd.”
Born in Griffin, Byrd graduated from Morris Brown College and completed a master of fine arts degree in dance at California Institute of Arts. He received a Tony nomination for best featured actor in a play in 2003 for his Broadway performance in Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Atlanta police said they responded to a report about an injured person at 1:45 a.m. Saturday at 2257 Belvedere Ave. The authorities found Byrd there with multiple gunshot wounds in his back. Earlier in the evening, Byrd had shopped at a store in walking distance of his home, said Craig Wyckoff, who represented Byrd and who has spoken to a police detective assigned to the case.
“Detectives have looked at the video from the store,” Wyckoff said. "Originally, a group of his friends thought that he got into an argument at the store and the guy followed him home. But that isn’t true because in the video it shows him talking and laughing with the clerk at the store. And there isn’t anybody else in the store. So there was no argument.
“He leaves the store and he was walking home,” Wyckoff said. “I don’t know anything that happened on the way. Police aren’t releasing any details.”
Police this week issued a bulletin saying the Crime Stoppers reward for information in the case had risen to $10,000, but have said little else.
Interim Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant discussed the city’s rising homicide tally during an editorial board meeting with journalists from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week.
“I wouldn’t say that criminals are getting more brazen," Bryant said, speaking in general terms and not referring to any one particular incident. “I think what we’re recognizing through this COVID period is that there’s much more difficulty in people being able to have conflict resolution."
Afemo Omilami acted alongside Byrd in a forthcoming film “Freedom’s Path,” which centers on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. The film is scheduled to be released next year. Omilami vowed to push for justice for Byrd.
“As far as I know, he didn’t have any enemies,” said Omilami, the chief operating officer of Hosea Helps. “I never knew anybody who thought bad of Thomas or wanted to hurt him. That is what has shocked everybody — that his life would be taken in such a brutal, cowardly manner.”
Brett Smith — who wrote, directed and produced “Freedom’s Path” — said he and others are considering how to honor Byrd when the film airs.
“He was all in on his characters. He was fully committed. He really took them and made them his,” Smith said, adding: “We will absolutely be honoring him and paying tribute to him and his life and career.”
Byrd taught acting at one point, said Wyckoff, who underscored his dignity, caring and kindness. The characters he played, Wyckoff added, were “mostly evil bad guys. But his own person was in stark contrast to the roles he played.”
In 2011, Byrd appeared in a production of Alice Childress’s comedy-drama, “Trouble in Mind” in Washington, D.C. In an interview with Metro Scene about the production, Byrd called the play “a song of protest… about people of color being misrepresented in film on stage and TV.”
“We as African American people take serious issue with how we are portrayed because that big screen is very powerful,” Byrd told Metro Scene. “I take serious issue with that because of how I’m being represented, how my children will be represented, how my grandparents were represented.”
Byrd is survived by his son, Thomas IV; five daughters, Aria, Carmen, Kalah, Shannon Byrd-Crossley and Desaree Murden; five grandchildren; and his ex-wife, Veronica Byrd.
Atlanta police are urging people with tips about the shooting to call 404-577-8477.
- AJC reporter Shaddi Abusaid contributed to this article.
About the Author
