Comedian and actor Ricky Harris, who made his acting debut in the 1993 flick “Poetic Justice” alongside Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur, died Monday of a heart attack.
He was only 54.
The funnyman was known for his no-holds-barred standup, but also went on to star in television shows like “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Moesha” and the films “Heat” and “Dope.”
Harris also performed funny skits on albums in between songs for various rappers, including Snoop Dogg, who mourned the actor in an Instagram video on Monday.
Snoop called his late friend his “big brother” and a “Long Beach original.”
Ice Cube also paid tribute to the comedian, writing “Damn, we lost Ricky Harris. The world is a little less funny today. RIP homie.”
You can see Ricky being his always funny self in the video below with Snoop Dogg.
African Americans are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke than White Americans. Both Black women (49%) and Black men (44%) have higher rates of heart disease than White men (37%) and White women (32%).
In a 2009 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that African-Americans not only have a much higher incidence of heart failure than other races, they also develop it at a much younger age. Heart failure means…
… that the heart isn’t able to pump blood as well as it should.
Before age 50, African-Americans’ heart failure rate is 20 times higher than that of whites, according to the study. Four risk factors are the strongest predictors of heart failure: high blood pressure (also called hypertension), chronic kidney disease, being overweight, and having low levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol. Three-fourths of African-Americans who develop heart failure have high blood pressure by age 40.
Harris is survived by his mother and two daughters.
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