TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid by former colleagues and collaborators to US actor Lance Reddick, who has died at the age of 60.

Reddick was most known for his role as steely Baltimore police lieutenant Cedric Daniels in hit TV show The Wire. His publicist announced his death yesterday. He was 60 years old.

Creator and writer of The Wire David Simon paid tribute to Reddick on Twitter:

“Consummate professional, devoted collaborator, lovely and gentle man, loyal friend. Could go on, but no, I can’t go on. This is gutting. And way, way, way too soon,” said Simon.

Fellow The Wire star Wendell Pierce – who played Detective Bunk Moreland on the show – called Reddick “a man of great strength and grace”. 

“A man of great strength and grace. As talented a musician as he was an actor. The epitome of class. An sudden unexpected sharp painful grief for our artistic family. An unimaginable suffering for his personal family and loved ones. Godspeed my friend. You made your mark here. RIP,” Moreland said on Twitter.

Reddick, who also appeared in the John Wick series of films opposite Keanu Reeves, was found dead at his home in the Studio City area of Los Angeles, trade title TMZ reported.

“Acclaimed actor Lance Reddick passed away suddenly this morning from natural causes,” publicist Mia Hansen told AFP.

Lance will be greatly missed.

Reddick first rose to prominence in 2000 on the HBO prison drama Oz in which he played an undercover detective battling the drugs trade, but who soon gets drawn into addiction.

But it was for his role on The Wire that he became best known.

The HBO show, which ran for five seasons, followed a narcotics division pitting their wits against the city’s powerful drug gangs. With its complex writing and gritty casting, The Wire is often cited as one of the best ever TV shows.

It made household names of several of its stars, including Dominic West, Idris Elba, Wendell Pierce, Michael B. Jordan and the late Michael Kenneth Williams, who delivered one of the most singular performances in recent screen history as Omar Little.

After The Wire, Reddick was cast in John Wick as Charon, a concierge at a New York hotel who worked alongside Reeves’ hitman. Reeves and John Wick director Chad Stahelski told Variety they were mourning the loss of the cast member.

“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken at the loss of our beloved friend and colleague,” a statement said.

He was the consummate professional and a joy to work with.

Horror writer Stephen King tweeted that he had been halfway through re-watching “The Wire.”

“Wonderful actor; wonderful man. This is sad news,” he wrote.

Performer Ben Stiller praised a “beautiful and compelling actor,” recalling how Reddick had worked with his mother, Anne Meara, in a play.

“He was exquisite in that and all he did,” he tweeted.

HBO’s corporate account wrote Reddick was “held in the highest regard by all who knew and worked with him and we are proud to be part of his legacy. He will be missed dearly.”

Reddick is survived by his wife Stephanie Reddick, and children Yvonne Nicole Reddick and Christopher Reddick, his publicist said.

With reporting from Cormac Fitzgerald