Just over a month after American Horror Story: Freak Show’s finale, one of this season’s more memorable stars, Ben Woolf, has died due to injuries suffered when he was hit by a car last week. The actor was 34 years old.
Woolf, who stood tall at 4’4”, was illegally crossing a street in Los Angeles last Thursday when he was struck by a passing car’s side-view mirror. He was soon rushed to a nearby hospital, where he spent the weekend. Though doctors upped his status from “critical” to “stable,” he stayed mostly unconscious and heavily sedated. According to TMZ, he suffered a stroke on Monday afternoon and was pronounced dead.
The driver of the SUV that hit Woolf was not ticketed or arrested, as Woolf had been jaywalking at the time. Regardless of where the blame may lie, it’s still an awful situation in every way.
First getting his start in the pulp horror web series TV Face, Woolf’s next role was in the first season of American Horror Story, where he played the absolutely nightmarish Infantata, a demonic creature comprised of the dismembered remains of the dreaded Charles and Nora Montgomery’s son Thaddeus. The Infantata remains one of the most frightening characters in the anthology series, if not all of television.
Woolf then went on to appear in the hilarious Adult Swim series Eagleheart, as well as indie films such as Abe R. Rated’s comedy Woggie, Charles Band’s fantasy horror Unlucky Charms, Aaron K. Carter’s horror Dead Kansas and Mick Davis’ thriller Haunting Charles Manson.
Woolf re-teamed with Ryan Murphy and the American Horror Story universe for the Freak Show arc, in which he played Meep, the furry-costumed devourer of chicken heads. Meep died early in the season, a victim of the show’s freak-hating citizens, but the character’s presence was felt throughout. And now we sadly won’t get to see him return for Season 5. You can watch Woolf talking about his time on the show in the video below.
We at Cinema Blend send our thoughts and condolences to the friends and family of Ben Woolf in their time of mourning.
