Brad Henke Death, Obituary – Brad William Henke, a former professional football player who also had a career as an actor, reportedly passed away earlier this week at the age of 56, as stated by multiple reports that were published on Thursday evening. According to a representative who spoke with Variety, Henke, who was most famous for his role in the television show “Orange Is the New Black,” passed away on Tuesday. The representative did not provide any additional information regarding the cause of death.
Members of Henke’s family have stated that he died in a calm and peaceful manner while he was sleeping. According to the details that are presented on his IMDB page, Henke’s professional career got its start in the National Football League (NFL) before he became successful in the acting world. After earning his degree from the University of Arizona, where he was a member of the defensive line team, he signed with the New York Giants the following year. He retired from the Denver Broncos in 1994 after enduring a number of injuries while playing for the team for a number of years, and the team went on to compete in Super Bowl XXIV with him after his retirement.
Henke reportedly relocated to Los Angeles, where he began his acting career by appearing in a commercial and responding to an open call for “big guys.” The information was obtained from Deadline. In later years of his career, he appeared as a guest on a number of well-known television programs, including “Justified,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “MacGyver,” “Longmire,” and “The Office,” amongst others.
Henke played the role of Desi Piscatella, a gay corrections officer, on the fourth and fifth seasons of the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black.” Piscatella was a main character in those two seasons. His first wife’s name was Katelin Chesna, and she was originally from the town of Columbus, Nebraska. Henke is a Nebraska native. The divorce was finalized in the year 2008 for the couple.