Actor Kamar de los Reyes died December 24, 2023 in Los Angeles as a result of cancer at the age of 56.
Along with appearing in over 50 prime time television productions, Reyes appeared in the daytime drama “One Life to Live” and the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops II”.
At the time of his death, Reyes was in the process of filming “All American” and had filmed roles in the yet released Marvel’s “Daredevil” and “Washington Black”.
He was born Luis Ruben De Los Reyes on November 8, 1967 in San Juan, Puerto Rico but grew up in Las Vegas where his father was a drummer and percussionist. While older brothers followed in Dad’s footsteps, the youngest Kamar chose the stage for his life’s work.
He was just eight years old when his father put him on stage to dance Lola Falana. It was then that the young Reyes decided he was destined to be a performer.
He moved to Los Angeles in the ‘80’s where his early roles were on the theatre stage in “Blade to the Heat” and “The Tempest”.
His early screen roles included playing opposite Angelina Jolie in “Salt” and Jennifer Lopez in “The Cell”.
His over roles includes appearances in “The Rookie”, “SEAL Team”, “Sleepy Hollow”, “LA Apocalypse”, “Castle”, “Pretty Little Liars”, “Blue Bloods”, “CSI: Miami”, “Love and Suicide”, “Touched by an Angel”, “Nixon”, “ER”, “Valley of the Dolls”, “Salsa”, and several of the “Call of Duty” video game episodes.
Like many islanders, his heart never left his homeland even though he had made his home thousands of miles away. When a massive hurricane hit Puerto Rico in 2017, Reys did far more than throw out rolls of paper towels to aid his fellow countrymen in recovery efforts; saying, “we want to make sure that the relief aid makes it into the hands of the people who need it most, but also create awareness so that the people of Puerto Rico aren’t forgotten.”
He is survived by his wife Sherri and children – Caylen, Michael, and John.
feature photo credit: Reyes in the video game “Call of Duty – Black Ops II” while on tour of the USS Houston (SSN 713) a Los Angeles class attack submarine. U.S. Navy Specialist 1st Class Jason Swink took the photo