Louie Rankin, ‘Belly’ Actor & Dancehall Artist, Dies In Car Crash

Louie Rankin, a Jamaican part-time actor who appeared in films including Belly and Shottas and had a dancehall with “Typewriter,” died Monday in a car crash in Eastern Canada, local police said. He was 66.

Ontario Provincial Police said the car Rankin was driving collided with a transport truck near the town of Shelburne.

Born Leonard Ford, the Saint Thomas Parish native played Jamaican drug kingpin Lennox, aka Ox, in 1998’s Belly, opposite rapper-stars Nas and DMX. He also was known as the Original Don Dada and as Teddy Bruckshut — after the character he played in 2002’s Shottas. He also co-starred in We Run These Streets (2014). On Monday, Rankin posted on Instagram that he was in Toronto to film a movie:

View this post on Instagram

The Original Don DaDa On Set 🎥 Shooting A Major Movie In Toronto with @bizmoihouserecords #jamaica #ReturnOfTheDonDaDa #AlbumDone

A post shared by LouieOxRankin (@louie_rankin) on Sep 29, 2019 at 12:47pm PDT

His single “Typewriter” reached No. 25 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs charts — a week when fellow dancehall act Snow was No. 1 on that chart and the Billboard Hot 100 with “Informer.”

In 2016, Louie and Belly star Nas reunited in DJ Khaled’s music video for his track “Nas Album Done.” Watch the video below.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with funeral costs and support his children.