CW Morgan, the actor who played Hank Loomis in the original Scream film, has died aged 72 in Los Angeles County.
His death was confirmed by his daughter, Renata Macfie, who shared a throwback photograph and a tribute on Facebook on August 30. The cause of death remains unclear, although medical examiner records indicate that he died in a bathroom.
Macfie wrote: “I’m never going to have the right words for this post. Loosing you has left the biggest hole in my heart. I miss you endlessly already. I will carry on our Mulholland drives and our Starbucks outings. I’m grateful and lucky to have had you as my daddy. My Guck. Rest easy bubby.”
She added: “Life will never be the same without you and your poorly timed jokes that I inherited from you. Love you endlessly ( no more fighting about that anymore I win)”.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson said officers had responded to a call for a death investigation and that the death appeared to have been from natural causes.
The Los Angeles Fire Department also received a call concerning an unconscious adult male. Morgan was already dead when emergency services arrived and was not taken to hospital.
Born Curtis Wade Morgan in Bisbee, Arizona, on June 8, 1954, he was best known for portraying Hank Loomis in the 1996 horror film Scream.
Hank was the father of Billy Loomis, played by Skeet Ulrich, who was revealed as the film’s original Ghostface killer. Morgan’s character was a prominent lawyer and the former husband of Nancy Loomis, played by Laurie Metcalf.
The film’s backstory established that Hank had secretly had an affair with Maureen Prescott, the mother of Neve Campbell’s character Sidney Prescott. The affair broke up the Loomis family and was presented as a factor in Billy’s descent into violence.
Morgan’s main scene came as Hank defended his son while police investigated Billy. He later returned to the franchise in a flashback scene in Scream 3, released in 2000.
His other screen roles included the 1992 television film The Last of His Tribe and the 1997 film Metro. He also provided voices for an episode of the animated series Aeon Flux and for the video game The Last Express.
His final acting role was Coleman Spencer in an episode of Nash Bridges that aired in 2000. Morgan remained active on social media, where he posted photographs documenting his life; his final post, on June 11, 2025, showed a blossoming pink flower without a caption.
