Bert Belasco, who co-starred in BET’s Let’s Stay Together and Fox’s Pitch, has died at the age of 38. According to BET, the actor was found dead on Sunday, Nov. 8. A cause of death has not yet been officially reported.
Belasco, who lived in Woodland Hills, Calif., was in Virginia filming for a movie and quarantining in a hotel prior to going on set, his father told TMZ. When family and friends could not reach him, hotel staff contacted police to conduct a welfare check, where Belasco was pronounced dead at the scene. While detectives are working with medical examiners to determine the cause of death, the circumstances of the case do not look suspicious, according to the police statement.
Celebrity peers such as Jackée Harry and Yvette Nicole Brown took to Twitter to mourn and honor Belasco.
“Heartbroken at the passing of Bert Belasco - a talented, kind young man who I had the pleasuring of working with numerous times on #LetsStayTogether,” Harry wrote as she reminisced about her former co-star. “Squeeze your loved ones tight! Tomorrow is never promised.”
“This is me and my dear friend #BertBelasco who just passed away at 38,” Brown wrote. “No day is promised. Please let the ones you love KNOW that you love them today, right now. Any moment could be your last. #RIP you dear, kind, gentle man.”
Belasco studied theater, earning his degree at Southern Illinois University and performed for a period of time at the Second City improv theater in Chicago. Along with Let’s Stay Together and Pitch, Belasco also made appearances on Key & Peele, NCIS: New Orleans, Superstore, The Mick, House, Justified, and The Soul Man.
Rest in Power, Bert Belasco.