Dearon ‘Deezer D’ Thompson, ‘ER’ Star and Rapper, Dead at 55

Beloved actor and rapper Deezer D, who starred on NBC’s long-running medical drama ER, died on Thursday morning, his brother told TMZ. Deezer D, whose real name was Dearon Thompson, was found unresponsive at his home in Los Angeles. There is no official cause of death, but his brother, Mawshawn, told TMZ his family believes he died of a heart attack. Thompson was 55.

Thompson had major heart surgery in 2009 to replace his aorta and fix a leaky heart valve. In a 2009 interview with Radar Online, Thompson described his medical issue as the “same thing that killed John Ritter” and was “so grateful” that his doctor discovered his heart valve was leaking and his aorta expanded. “I’m just praying and God is watching over me,” Thompson said at the time. He said he was experiencing “recurring pneumonia” and had “over 10 episodes of heart failure” in the months before his surgery.

The actor’s surgery was in July 2009, and he told Radar he expected to be hospitalized for a week afterward. “What I was going through for the last year — that was scary,” Thompson told the site. “I’m fearless about the surgery.”

Thompson starred on ER as nurse Malik McGrath, appearing in 190 episodes between 1994 and 2009. His other acting credits include Bringing Down the House, The Way Back Home, The Great White Hype, and Fear of a Black Hat. After ER, he acted in two short films and made his final appearance in the 2017 family movie Crowning Jules. Outside of acting, he was a motivational speaker and Christian rapper.

In a 1999 interview with Crosswalk, Thompson said he was unimpressed with some of the Christian rap he was hearing at the time. “I heard it, and it was: [Deezer goes into his MC Dumb Guy voice] ‘Jesus is good/Jesus ain’t bad/Jesus is something that you never had.’ People thought this was amazing… just because they were saying Jesus,” Thompson explained. “But just because you’re rapping about Jesus, doesn’t mean you can rap, and that your music is good. [Similarly], just because you’re a Christian and you’re preaching, doesn’t make you a great preacher.”

ER aired on NBC from 1994 to 2009 and was created by Michael Crichton. The show won 22 Emmys during its run, winning Outstanding Drama Series in 1996. The show is available to stream on Hulu with a subscription.