Michael Wright died in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at age 70, closing a career that stretched across more than 50 movies and TV shows. Susan Wright announced his death on Friday evening and said the family is now facing a loss that is both public and deeply private.
Susan Wright’s Friday post
“It is with profound sadness and an unimaginable heaviness in my heart that I share the passing of my beloved husband, Michael Wright,” Susan Wright wrote in her Instagram post shared Friday evening. She added that Michael was “a husband, a father (Manon Wright, Byron Barr, Brittney Briggs, Brianna Barr, Sir Barr, a grandfather (Yoko), loved one, a friend, and an extraordinary artist whose work touched generations.”
Wright was born on April 30, 1956, in New York City and built a long screen career that included The Five Heartbeats, The Principal, and V. In The Five Heartbeats, he played the band’s lead vocalist, Eddie King Jr., a role that gave his work a lasting place in film and TV memory without turning him into a one-role actor.
Michael Wright on screen
He also appeared in Streamers and Sugar Hill, along with HBO’s Oz. That range matters because his credits moved across film, television, and genre work rather than sitting inside one lane; the result was a résumé that stayed visible even when he was not front and center.
His family said he died after suffering heart failure coupled with complications of degenerative neurological disease Marchiafava-Bignami. Marchiafava-Bignami is a degenerative neurological disease, so the reported cause points to both a cardiac failure and a long medical decline rather than a single sudden event.
What the family will share
“Our family is grieving an enormous and deeply personal loss,” Susan Wright said after his death. She also said Michael was “an extraordinary artist whose work touched generations,” and the family said it will share additional information later about his life, legacy, and how to honor him. For readers who knew him through The Five Heartbeats or V, the next meaningful detail is not another credit; it is how his family chooses to frame the life behind those roles.
“Michael, your work will live forever, but your love will live even longer in the hearts of those who knew you best. Rest peacefully, my love. You will be missed beyond words.”
