John Dye (Andrew) 1963-2011 - Page 2 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Zoneboy · 01-13-2011, 06:47 PM

Link

Even as the Angel of Death on all nine seasons of the CBS-TV series “Touched by an Angel,” the late John Dye was an actor who celebrated love and life.

“He turned the idea of the Angel of Death into something that was compassionate and welcoming,” said Dye’s younger brother, Jerre Dye, artistic director of the Voices of the South theater company in Memphis. “He not only took the role very seriously, in true John form he took on a greater responsibility of wanting to be there for people — to be a loving person. The people John loved — he poured so much love into us.”

Even so, Dye was unpretentious about being known as the personification of death. “When you see me in my white suit and I start glowing, you know somebody’s toast,” he told The Commercial Appeal in 1999.

He said he was a regular churchgoer and Episcopal church member in the Bay Area, but he was no angel, despite his TV fame. “As my father would say, I can sleep in a garage every night, but that’s not going to make me a car.”

The boyish-looking Dye, 47, a Mississippi-born University of Memphis theater major and local actor who achieved success and fame in movies and television, died Monday of a heart attack at his home in San Francisco, according to his brother.

The death was little publicized until the family worked out the details for the actor’s public memorial service, which will be held at 1 p.m. Jan. 22 at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Amory, Miss., the town where Dye was born and where his parents, Jim and Lynn Dye, still live.

The Dye brothers — John, Jerre, 39, and Jamey Dye, 43, who now lives in Chattanooga — were born in Amory, but the family moved to Cleveland, Tenn., and then Tupelo, where John Dye attended high school and later directed a production of “Grease.”

In Cleveland, Jerre Dye saw his role-model older brother onstage for the first time, as one of the Von Trapp children in “The Sound of Music.”

After a year at Mississippi State University, “where he was planning to major in something respectable,” Jerre said, John Dye returned home “and announced that he wanted to be an actor. And my great-grandmother, who was alive at the time, said: ‘Don’t do it!’”

But Dye transferred to the University of Memphis (then Memphis State), to be a theater major in the College of Communication.

He got his first taste of screen acting as a preppy student named “Skip” in the low-budget 1984 teen picture “Making the Grade,” which starred Judd Nelson. One of the first successful movies shot in Memphis, “Making the Grade” was advertised as “the comedy that hits higher education — below the belt!”

In 1986, Dye moved to Los Angeles and struggled for a few years before achieving success, mostly on television. He appeared on “The Young and the Restless” and “Murder, She Wrote,” and was a regular cast member on such short-lived late 1980s and 1990s series as “Hotel Malibu” (co-starring Jennifer Lopez), “Jack’s Place” and the critically acclaimed “Tour of Duty,” a Vietnam drama that gave Dye one of his favorite roles as a soldier-physician who was opposed to the war.

He was most recognized for his work on the inspirational “Touched by an Angel,” a series produced in Salt Lake City in which “caseworker” angel Roma Downey brought guidance and heavenly help to troubled souls on Earth, with the help of mentor angel Della Reese.

Because television actors essentially visit people in their living rooms, viewers feel a peculiar closeness and familiarity with TV stars. Said Jerre Dye: “People were very moved by the nature of John’s role, and it was not uncommon for people to come up to him in public and say their mother or brother passed away, ‘and you were a comfort.’ So often he would get some very powerful comments, so he had to learn to embrace all that.”

In a 1997 book anthology of “Touched by an Angel” teleplays, Dye wrote that he like playing the Angel of Death because “death isn’t something we talk about much in America. As a nation, we find it difficult to mourn or grieve, labeling tears a sign of weakness. Because of that, Andrew is a rather loud character, helping us face something we would rather ignore.”

A big University of Memphis theater supporter, Dye occasionally returned to Memphis and Mississippi to participate in charity and theater events. In 2001, he and Melissa Gilbert (“Little House on the Prairie”) starred in a fundraising performance of “Love Letters” at the U of M.

“The stage is like vitamins for actors,” Dye told The Commercial Appeal at the time. “If you want to be a movie star, go be a movie star. If you want to act, get back to the stage.”

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Amory Food Pantry or a local food bank, or to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Dye also leaves his only surviving grandparent, Irene Duvall of Tupelo.

Zoneboy · 01-14-2011, 12:37 AM

Mr. Television · 01-14-2011, 01:43 AM

Touched By an Angel was one of my Mom's favorite shows. This is so shocking. He was so young. Life just isn't fair sometimes. R.I.P. John. Now you really are an Angel.

Ohio8 · 01-14-2011, 09:30 PM

Zoneboy · 01-18-2011, 08:16 AM

Della Reese says that she, Roma Downey and John Dye were very much "a family unit" during CBS' long-running series Touched by an Angel.

But that family suffered a heavy loss with Dye's death at age 47 this week.

"Roma, John and I were a family unit. We worked together every day for seven years," Reese tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We acted like a family. We lived like a family. I felt what he felt."

"He was my Angel Boy, that's what I called him."

The actor died from a heart attack Monday at his home in San Francisco.

Reese says she spoke to Dye's parents to comfort them in this difficult time. In 2002, Reese's own 42-year-old daughter, Deloreese Daniels Owens, died.

"You're not supposed to bury your children, your children are supposed to bury you," she says. "My daughter made her transition. I told them you don't get over it, you adjust to live with it. This is not a time when anyone can help you."

Despite the loss, Reese believes Dye is in "a place where whatever was not right for him is now right for him."

"I am disappointed greatly that he didn't have a chance to finish a marvelous life," says Reese. "He certainly deserved it."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...ell-john-72209

ABC1 · 01-18-2011, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HuntingtonM15

That's awful. He was way too young.

May he

I read this in our local newspaper and was just devastated by the news. He was such a talented actor and he will be missed.

TBA1976 · 09-11-2011, 02:10 AM

Andrew was my favorite angel on the show!Very sad news indeed.

Vahan · 09-11-2011, 03:34 AM

Just out of curiosity, was he perfectly healthy at the time he suffered his fatal heart attack?

MA · 01-10-2020, 10:27 AM

I can't believe it's already been nine years since his passing.

MA · 04-11-2020, 07:53 AM

Despite stories of heart-related issues, a death certificate obtained in 2018 revealed that John had died of meth intoxication.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...icate.pdf#file

Schmoopie · 04-11-2020, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MA

Despite stories of heart-related issues, a death certificate obtained in 2018 revealed that John had died of meth intoxication.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...icate.pdf#file

Wow, that's a shame.

MA · 04-11-2020, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schmoopie

Wow, that's a shame.

It really is.

Before I read that, I always thought that he died of heart problems. After reading it, I didn't even know that he was involved with drugs.

Bonniegirl · 04-11-2020, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MA

Despite stories of heart-related issues, a death certificate obtained in 2018 revealed that John had died of meth intoxication.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...icate.pdf#file

That really is a shame ! Methamphedamine is really bad!

That speeds you up so bad , he probably really did have heart issues because of that, his heart couldn't take all the pressure due to the meth !!

opus · 04-11-2020, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MA

Despite stories of heart-related issues, a death certificate obtained in 2018 revealed that John had died of meth intoxication.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...icate.pdf#file

This may not be true. Be careful what you believe. That site may not be accurate and the site admits it.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/C...ral_disclaimer

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS MAKES NO GUARANTEE OF VALIDITY

>>>Wikimedia Commons is an online open-content media repository, that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups who are developing a common resource to house different media. Its structure allows anyone with an Internet connection and World Wide Web browser to alter the content found here. Therefore, please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by professionals with the expertise necessary to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information.<<<

Coffeecup · 04-11-2020, 07:37 PM

I can't get over he has a surviving grandparent. How old was the grandparent?

01-13-2011, 06:47 PM	#16
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,346	Link Even as the Angel of Death on all nine seasons of the CBS-TV series “Touched by an Angel,” the late John Dye was an actor who celebrated love and life. “He turned the idea of the Angel of Death into something that was compassionate and welcoming,” said Dye’s younger brother, Jerre Dye, artistic director of the Voices of the South theater company in Memphis. “He not only took the role very seriously, in true John form he took on a greater responsibility of wanting to be there for people — to be a loving person. The people John loved — he poured so much love into us.” Even so, Dye was unpretentious about being known as the personification of death. “When you see me in my white suit and I start glowing, you know somebody’s toast,” he told The Commercial Appeal in 1999. He said he was a regular churchgoer and Episcopal church member in the Bay Area, but he was no angel, despite his TV fame. “As my father would say, I can sleep in a garage every night, but that’s not going to make me a car.” The boyish-looking Dye, 47, a Mississippi-born University of Memphis theater major and local actor who achieved success and fame in movies and television, died Monday of a heart attack at his home in San Francisco, according to his brother. The death was little publicized until the family worked out the details for the actor’s public memorial service, which will be held at 1 p.m. Jan. 22 at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Amory, Miss., the town where Dye was born and where his parents, Jim and Lynn Dye, still live. The Dye brothers — John, Jerre, 39, and Jamey Dye, 43, who now lives in Chattanooga — were born in Amory, but the family moved to Cleveland, Tenn., and then Tupelo, where John Dye attended high school and later directed a production of “Grease.” In Cleveland, Jerre Dye saw his role-model older brother onstage for the first time, as one of the Von Trapp children in “The Sound of Music.” After a year at Mississippi State University, “where he was planning to major in something respectable,” Jerre said, John Dye returned home “and announced that he wanted to be an actor. And my great-grandmother, who was alive at the time, said: ‘Don’t do it!’” But Dye transferred to the University of Memphis (then Memphis State), to be a theater major in the College of Communication. He got his first taste of screen acting as a preppy student named “Skip” in the low-budget 1984 teen picture “Making the Grade,” which starred Judd Nelson. One of the first successful movies shot in Memphis, “Making the Grade” was advertised as “the comedy that hits higher education — below the belt!” In 1986, Dye moved to Los Angeles and struggled for a few years before achieving success, mostly on television. He appeared on “The Young and the Restless” and “Murder, She Wrote,” and was a regular cast member on such short-lived late 1980s and 1990s series as “Hotel Malibu” (co-starring Jennifer Lopez), “Jack’s Place” and the critically acclaimed “Tour of Duty,” a Vietnam drama that gave Dye one of his favorite roles as a soldier-physician who was opposed to the war. He was most recognized for his work on the inspirational “Touched by an Angel,” a series produced in Salt Lake City in which “caseworker” angel Roma Downey brought guidance and heavenly help to troubled souls on Earth, with the help of mentor angel Della Reese. Because television actors essentially visit people in their living rooms, viewers feel a peculiar closeness and familiarity with TV stars. Said Jerre Dye: “People were very moved by the nature of John’s role, and it was not uncommon for people to come up to him in public and say their mother or brother passed away, ‘and you were a comfort.’ So often he would get some very powerful comments, so he had to learn to embrace all that.” In a 1997 book anthology of “Touched by an Angel” teleplays, Dye wrote that he like playing the Angel of Death because “death isn’t something we talk about much in America. As a nation, we find it difficult to mourn or grieve, labeling tears a sign of weakness. Because of that, Andrew is a rather loud character, helping us face something we would rather ignore.” A big University of Memphis theater supporter, Dye occasionally returned to Memphis and Mississippi to participate in charity and theater events. In 2001, he and Melissa Gilbert (“Little House on the Prairie”) starred in a fundraising performance of “Love Letters” at the U of M. “The stage is like vitamins for actors,” Dye told The Commercial Appeal at the time. “If you want to be a movie star, go be a movie star. If you want to act, get back to the stage.” The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Amory Food Pantry or a local food bank, or to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Dye also leaves his only surviving grandparent, Irene Duvall of Tupelo.
	__________________ 'Twas The Night Before Christmas And All Through The Full House Not A Creature Was Stirring, Not Even Mighty Mouse. All My Children We're Nestled All Snug In Their Beds While Visions Of Sugarbakers Danced In Their Heads.

01-14-2011, 01:43 AM	#18
Mr. Television 22 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,128	Touched By an Angel was one of my Mom's favorite shows. This is so shocking. He was so young. Life just isn't fair sometimes. R.I.P. John. Now you really are an Angel.
	__________________ Sonny

01-14-2011, 09:30 PM	#19
Ohio8 Member Forum Star Join Date: Jul 29, 2003 Location: Wherever you aren't. Posts: 18,906	Attached Images

01-18-2011, 08:16 AM	#20
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,346	Della Reese Bids Farewell to John Dye: 'He Was My Angel Boy' Della Reese says that she, Roma Downey and John Dye were very much "a family unit" during CBS' long-running series Touched by an Angel. But that family suffered a heavy loss with Dye's death at age 47 this week. "Roma, John and I were a family unit. We worked together every day for seven years," Reese tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We acted like a family. We lived like a family. I felt what he felt." "He was my Angel Boy, that's what I called him." The actor died from a heart attack Monday at his home in San Francisco. Reese says she spoke to Dye's parents to comfort them in this difficult time. In 2002, Reese's own 42-year-old daughter, Deloreese Daniels Owens, died. "You're not supposed to bury your children, your children are supposed to bury you," she says. "My daughter made her transition. I told them you don't get over it, you adjust to live with it. This is not a time when anyone can help you." Despite the loss, Reese believes Dye is in "a place where whatever was not right for him is now right for him." "I am disappointed greatly that he didn't have a chance to finish a marvelous life," says Reese. "He certainly deserved it." http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...ell-john-72209

01-10-2020, 10:27 AM	#24
MA Member Moderator Forum Idol Join Date: May 20, 2017 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 127,237	I can't believe it's already been nine years since his passing.
	__________________ ~-Mikaela-~

01-14-2011, 12:37 AM	#17
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,346

09-11-2011, 02:10 AM	#22
TBA1976 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jan 12, 2010 Location: Tennessee Posts: 13	Andrew was my favorite angel on the show!Very sad news indeed.

09-11-2011, 03:34 AM	#23
Vahan Member Senior Member Join Date: Jan 14, 2008 Posts: 2,712	Just out of curiosity, was he perfectly healthy at the time he suffered his fatal heart attack?

04-11-2020, 07:53 AM	#25
MA Member Moderator Forum Idol Join Date: May 20, 2017 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 127,237	Despite stories of heart-related issues, a death certificate obtained in 2018 revealed that John had died of meth intoxication. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...icate.pdf#file

04-11-2020, 07:37 PM	#30
Coffeecup coffeecup. Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 17, 2003 Location: snoozeville Posts: 3,181	I can't get over he has a surviving grandparent. How old was the grandparent?