{"id":692648,"date":"2026-05-25T02:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T02:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/692648\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T02:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T02:42:10","slug":"grizz-chapman-actor-who-played-grizz-in-30-rock-dies-aged-52-television","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/692648\/","title":{"rendered":"Grizz Chapman, actor who played Grizz in 30 Rock, dies aged 52 | Television"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grizz Chapman, best known for his role as Grizz on the hit comedy 30 Rock<\/a>, has died aged 52.<\/p>\n

His cousin, the Harlem Globetrotter Donte Harrison, confirmed Chapman\u2019s death<\/a> on social media on Saturday.<\/p>\n

No cause of death has been given but Harrison said Chapman died in his sleep on Friday \u201cafter years of fighting illness and dialysis\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife gave my cousin Grizz Chapman some heavy battles, but he fought them with strength and dignity until the very end,\u201d Harrison wrote.<\/p>\n

The actor, who stood at 2.13 metres (7ft) tall, had been diagnosed with kidney disease and was a spokesperson for the National Kidney Foundation. While filming 30 Rock he spent a year in dialysis treatments, three days a week for four hours a day. He received a kidney transplant in 2010.<\/p>\n

Chapman was born in Brooklyn in 1974. He first met his future 30 Rock costar Tracy Morgan while Chapman was working as a bouncer at a strip club and the two men became friends.<\/p>\n

Chapman was working as a bodyguard when he was cast in a commercial and decided to switch to acting. \u201cI made $20,000 for 40 minutes of work, so I thought I was in the wrong business at that point and I needed to change,\u201d he said in a 2012 interview with CBR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite changing careers for the money, Chapman loved the work: \u201cOnce I got into acting, I realised it\u2019s more than just standing there. There\u2019s more to it. So I took some acting classes and developed the craft and fell in love with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapman\u2019s breakout role was in Tina Fey\u2019s comedy 30 Rock, in which he played the imposing but gentle bodyguard Grizz, one half of the entourage following the chaotic star Tracy Jordan, who was played by Morgan.<\/p>\n

Chapman credited Morgan for helping him keep the job, telling CBR in 2012<\/a>: \u201cThere were four members of the entourage originally but NBC came to Tina Fey and Tracy and said they couldn\u2019t pay for all four. So Tracy said we\u2019re gonna keep just two guys, which included me. I made the cut. I worked hard to get there. I worked really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapman played Grizz in 80 episodes of the beloved comedy, which aired between 2006 and 2013. But afterwards he struggled with typecasting due to his height.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, why can\u2019t a seven-foot guy play a doctor?\u201d he told the Hollywood Reporter<\/a> in 2013. \u201cWhy can\u2019t I be a teacher? Why can\u2019t I be a football coach? Why can\u2019t I be a cab driver? Anything. Anything else than that. I can cry. I can do those things that they think the big guys can\u2019t do. So just give us a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin Brown, who played Jordan\u2019s other bodyguard, Dot Com, wrote of Chapman: \u201cMay he RIP.\u201d<\/p>\n

His costar Judah Friedlander wrote that Chapman was always \u201cgetting big laughs at the table reads and on camera\u201d, while Maulik Pancholy said he was \u201cso kind, so sweet, and his huge heart brought laughter to so many. I\u2019m grateful we became family over a seven-year run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapman also appeared in films and shows including The Cobbler, Money Monster, Blue Bloods and The Blacklist.<\/p>\n

He is survived by his wife, Diana, and their two children.<\/p>\n