Charles F. Porter, the actor and producer who starred in ESPN’s Wendell Scott: A Race Story and produced the 2025 film Finding Faith, died on Monday after a long battle with cancer. He was 47. His death was announced by his wife, Candice Tab-Porter.
Born in the U.K., Porter attended Duke University and played defensive end on its football team. A back injury ended his hopes of playing in the NFL, and he later lost 65 pounds before pursuing acting.
In the early 2000s, Porter appeared in television series including The Parkers, Close to Home, Without a Trace, Bones and House. In 2011, he took the lead role in Wendell Scott: A Race Story, an ESPN television movie about the NASCAR driver who became the first and only African-American to win a NASCAR Cup race, in 1963.
Porter also starred in and produced the 2006 horror thriller Nailed, and had a small role in the film Peppermint. In 2025, he produced Lifetime’s Finding Faith, starring Paula Patton, Stephen Bishop, Keith David and Nadine Velazquez. Porter also appeared in the film as a bartender.
He is survived by his wife, Candice, and their daughters, Juliette and Layla.
Sources: Deadline.