From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nelsan Ellis (born c. 1978) was an award-winning American film and television actor and playwright, perhaps best known as Lafayette Reynolds on HBO's True Blood. He died on July 8, 2017, in Los Angeles, California, from complications with heart failure at the age of 39. Description above from the Wikipedia article Nelsan Ellis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia. ​