‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ actor dies at 45

Samuel French, the Texas-born actor who portrayed undercover FBI agent CJ Robinson in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, has died. He was 45.

French died on Friday, May 9, after a battle with cancer, his friend and collaborator Paul Sinacore told Entertainment Weekly.

“Samuel was a dear friend and an incredible actor,” said Sinacore, who directed the actor in their upcoming conspiracy drama, Towpath. The filmmaker went on to say that the project “wouldn’t exist” without French and the “incredible intensity he brought to the role of Detective Bernard Crooke.”

He continued, “Together we were on an extraordinary journey, giving everything we had to realize a shared creative vision. Samuel carried a fire for acting that burned in every frame — unfiltered, fearless, and alive. He gave himself completely to the work, and it showed. I am deeply saddened by his loss and only wish he could have seen the final cut. He was one of a kind, and he will remain in our hearts forever.”

French is survived by his daughter Madison, her mother and his former partner Melinda Acosta, his two brothers Andy and Danny, and his parents, Thomas and Evelyn French.

“My heart goes out to his family, and especially to his daughter — he loved her deeply and spoke of her often with pride and tenderness,” Sinacore added. “His friendship had an unexpectedly profound impact on my life.”

French was born on January 26, 1980, in Waco, Texas, and his family moved to Clifton when he was 3. He graduated from high school in his hometown before moving to Austin and eventually Dallas, where he scored early acting credits on the History channel miniseries Texas Rising and a single episode of AMC’s Fear of the Walking Dead.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Killers of the Flower Moon marked a huge moment in French’s career, as he would later tell Good Morning Texas.

“He was my very first director on my goal sheet to work with in my career, and I was able to do that with Killers of the Flower Moon,” French said of Scorsese during a November 2023 visit to the morning show, when the film first hit theaters. “So a whole lot of surreal moments. I mean, my first day on set was my scene with Robert De Niro, who is also an idol of mine. So to arguably work with one of the greatest actors in the world and be directed by the greatest director in the world, Martin Scorsese… So many goals off of my career sheet.”

French also starred as the titular private eye in Joe Haladin: The Case of the Missing Sister, with his additional credits including films Pegasus: Pony With a Broken Wing, The Pro Bono Watchman, and Blood Dried Hands. Sinacore’s Towpath will mark his final role.