Adrian Bailey dead at 67: Broadway actor and star of 15 shows passes away

News of the talented actor’s death was confirmed by BroadwayWorld on Monday.

Over his career, Bailey starred in 15 Broadway shows in the past three decades.

He made his Broadway debut in 1976’s Your Arms Too Short to Box With God and went on to land roles in Hot Feet, La Cage aux Folles, Dreamgirls, The Wild Party, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, The Who’s Tommy, Jelly’s Last Jam, Prince of Central Park, Legs Diamond, My One and Only and Sophisticated Ladies. 

In 2008, he was seriously injured after falling through a trap door prior to the start of a Saturday matinee of the Disney musical.

Following the accident, Bailey ‘was treated for fractured wrists, a broken back, a shattered pelvis, a fractured sternum, several fractured ribs and a fractured foot,’ according to PlayBill. 

At the time, he told Backstage in a statement: ‘My life has been changed forever. It will never be the same. My immediate goal is to somehow be able to walk up to my own apartment and care for myself. I try to stay positive. I look forward to being made whole some day and being fully compensated for my injuries.’

Actress, Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, was one of many stars that paid tribute to Bailey. 

‘The wonderful Adrian Bailey has gone home,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘Adrian was our gentle giant. The talent and compassion he had were beyond description.’ 

Luckinbill noted that Bailey ‘struggled for his life for years relearning everything.’

‘He survived decades longer than they predicted because he was Adrian Bailey,’  she concluded. 

Playwright, Patrick L. Riley, also paid his tributes online. 

‘Adrian Bailey is now an ancestor,’ Riley wrote. 

Bailey was born in Detroit, Michigan and was best known for starring in The Kings of Brooklyn (2004), N.Y.P.D. Mounted (1991) and Sophisticated Ladies (1982). 

X users also grieved the loss of Bailey on social media. 

‘Broadway has lost another talent. RIP Adrian Bailey,’ one wrote.