Bernie Casey
Bernie Casey, the former NFL star known for his work in the films “Boxcar Bertha” and “Revenge of the Nerds,” died Sept. 19. 2017 in Los Angeles after a brief illness. In this photo, late actor Bernie Casey and actress Judy Pase Flood attend the Los Angeles Premiere of HBO's 'The Curious Case of Curt Flood' at Museum Of Tolerance on July 11, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images

Bernie Casey, former NFL star-turned-actor known for his turn in movies like “Boxcar Bertha” and “Revenge of the Nerds,” died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 78.

Casey died following a short illness, the details of which are yet to be announced, Deadline reported. However, his last few days in the hospital were spent with his loved ones.

Casey was born in Wyco, West Virginia, on June 8, 1939, and was raised in Columbus, Ohio. His interest in football was evident as he excelled in the sport and attended Bowling Green State University on an athletic scholarship.

Along with his athletic qualities, Casey was also inclined toward painting and drawing.

He excelled in football and went on to spend nearly 10 seasons with the NFL; he started playing with the professional team San Francisco 49ers, according to the Week. He also played for Los Angeles Rams before returning to his alma mater to pursue a master's degree in fine arts, according to Fox 8.

He unexpectedly retired as a member of the L.A. Rams while he was still in his prime at teh age of 30. However, he said he retired so that he could devote more time to acting, painting, and poetry, according to the Week.

Casey started his career in the acting industry in 1969 with his debut role in the movie "Guns of the Magnificent Seven," which was the sequel to "The Magnificent Seven." Casey then starred opposite another fellow former NFL star Jim Brown in the crime dramas "Tick…Tick…Tick…" and "Black Gunn." Casey also acted in a 1972 science fiction TV film "Gargoyles," where he played the title role; he also starred opposite African-American actress and fashion model, Tamara Dobson, in the 1973 popular movie "Cleopatra Jones," according to Variety.

Casey was known for acting in several 1970s blaxploitation films — a genre popular in the 1970s and 1980s and in which the protagonists were black people who had to fights against the odds. His portrayal of characters were wide and he experimented with various roles: from former slave and train robber in Martin Scorsese's 1972 film "Boxcar Bertha" to detective (starring opposite Burt Reynolds in 1981's "Sharky's Machine") to CIA agent (James Bond film "Never Say Never Again"). He also did some memorable roles in several 1980s comedy classics, Rolling Stone reported.

In 1984, Casey co-starred in the movie "Revenge of the Nerds" where he played the character of U.N. Jefferson, who was a national head of the black fraternity known as Lambda Lambda Lambda. In the movie, Casey's character decided to keep aside racial politics and went on to take all the misfits in the movie under his wing.

Casey received an honorary doctorate from the Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia, where he served as the chairman of the board for years. Among the many fans of his paintings was Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist, reports said.

While promoting Casey's work in 2003, Angelou said: "I cannot see what Bernie Casey sees." "Casey has the heart and the art to put his insight on canvas, and I am heartened by his action. For then I can comprehend his vision and some of my own. His art makes my road less rocky, and my path less crooked."

RELATED STORIES