R.I.P. Charles Cyphers: ‘Halloween,’ ‘Major League’ Actor Dead At 85 After Brief Illness

Actor Charles Cyphers, best known for playing Sheriff Leigh Brackett in John Carpenter‘s Halloween, has passed away. He was 85.

The Halloween actor passed away in Tucson, Arizona following a brief illness. Cyphers’ manager, Chris Roe, confirmed the news to Variety.

“Charles was a lovable and sensitive man,” Roe said. “He always had the best stories, and you got a full performance while he told you. He was a close friend and client on many years who will be dearly missed.”

The actor appeared alongside Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut in the 1978 horror classic Halloween. Cyphers later reprised his role in Halloween II and again in the 2021 installment Halloween Kills, marking the first time he worked with Carpenter (an executive producer on the David Gordon Green film) in almost 40 years and the final acting role of his career.

Cyphers has been mourned by horror fans on social media, who remember the actor for his performances with Carpenter as well as The Fog and Someone’s Watching Me.

He is also known for playing team general manager Charlie Donovan in the successful 1989 baseball comedy Major League, which also starred Tom Berenger and Charlie Sheen.

Born in July 1939 in Niagara Falls, New York, Cyphers attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before later graduating from California State University, Los Angeles where he received his bachelors in theater arts. According to his IMDb, Cyphers was also a member of the Company of Angels for 25 years.

Cyphers led a long career in film and television, beginning in 1972 with an uncredited role as a police officer in Cool Breeze. Through the ’70s, Cyphers appeared in Charlie’s Angels, Wonder Woman, The Betty White Show, and Starsky and Hutch, amongst several other television shows and movies.

He later landed a regular role in the 1996 WB sitcom Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher.

Nancy Kyes praised her Halloween co-star in a statement. “So sorry to hear about dear Chuck,” she said, per Variety. “My friend of many years, he could always be relied on for a kind word, a good laugh and a great story. How he will be missed.”

At HorrorConUK 2022, Cyphers said it was “wonderful” to be able to return to the Halloween series after so many years.

“To be called back again in a film, it’s unheard of after 40 years. Most people are dead. Thankfully I didn’t die so they brought me back,” he said in an interview. “It was wonderful to come back and do it again and be paid. It was nice. I enjoyed it.”