Clarence Gilyard Jr., ‘Die Hard’ Star, Dead At 66

LAS VEGAS, NV — Clarence Gilyard Jr., the actor best known for playing computer hacker Theo in “Die Hard” and fighter pilot Marcus “Sundown” Williams in “Top Gun,” has died, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he worked as an associate professor, announced in a statement Monday.

“It is with profound sadness that I share this news,” Dean Nancy Uscher wrote in the Instagram post. “His students were deeply inspired by him, as were all who knew him. He had many extraordinary talents and was extremely well-known in the university through his dedication to teaching and his professional accomplishments."

Gilyard was born in 1955 in Moses Lake, Washington and graduated from Eisenhower High School in Rialto, California, in 1974, according to a biography provided by IMDb. He earned a BA in Theatre Arts from California State University before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career in the late 70s.

He stepped away from acting in 2006, when he began his teaching career at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, the biography said.

Calling Gilyard a “beacon of light and strength for everyone around him at UNLV," University of Nevada, Las Vegas film chair Heather Addison wrote in the university's statement that “Whenever we asked him how he was, he would cheerfully declare that he was 'Blessed!'"

"But we are truly the ones who were blessed to be his colleagues and students for so many years," Addison added. "We love you and will miss you dearly, Professor G!”