C.W. Morgan, who played Ghostface killer Billy Loomis’ father in Scream, has died, Us confirmed. He was 72.
Morgan died in his bathroom on August 30, according to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner records viewed by Us, which note that his body has been released to family. His cause of death was listed as deferred, meaning a final determination has not yet been made.
Morgan’s daughter paid tribute to the late actor via social media, according to TMZ.
“Losing you has left the biggest hole in my heart,” she wrote. “I miss you endlessly already. I will carry on our Mulholland drives and our Starbucks outings. I’m grateful and lucky to have had you as my daddy. My Guck. Rest easy bubby. Life will never be the same without you and your poorly timed jokes that I inherited from you.”
Morgan was born on June 8, 1954, in Bisbee, Arizona. He is known for appearing in 1996’s Scream as Hank Loomis, the father of Ghostface killer Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). Though his role in the film was brief, the character played a major part in the plot, as his affair with final girl Sidney Prescott’s (Neve Campbell) mom broke up the Loomis family and led to Billy’s killing spree.
Hank was a prominent lawyer who came to Billy’s defense while he was questioned at the local police station. The character made another cameo in a flashback scene in 2000’s Scream 3.
Morgan is also known for his roles in the 1997 film Metro, the 1992 TV movie The Last of His Tribe and the 1997 video game The Last Express.
Since the 1996 original, the Scream franchise has released six more films. The latest installment, Scream 7, arrived in February, starring Campbell, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard and Courteney Cox in their roles from previous films. Isabel May, Anna Camp, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Mckenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O’Connor, Sam Rechner, Mark Consuelos, Tim Simons and Joel McHale also joined the cast.
Scream 8 is currently in development.
Though Ulrich’s Ghostface helped launch the film series into cult classic fame, he has not appeared in the franchise since 2023’s Scream 6.
“Without Melissa Barrera and Sam Loomis, there’s no Billy Loomis,” the actor exclusively told Us earlier this week in reference to Barrera, 36, being fired from the franchise in 2023. “He was in her head. They had their chance at it and didn’t quite get to complete the three-film arc that they talked to me about.”
