“Who’s the baddest mofo around?!! Sho-nuff!” Remember that classic character? Actor, Julius Carry III, brought “Sho-nuff”- the hood Samaurai, to life like nobody else could have. Truth be told, he stole every scene he was in and when he had ‘the glow’ and put that death grip on “Bruce Leroy’s” hand, everybody knew he was the villain that you didn’t wanna step to. As a matter of fact, if it weren’t for Carry’s “Sho-nuff'” character, The Last Dragon would have probably been lost in the wind and buried with the likes of other cult classics, like the ’80s movie, Beat Street.
Details On Julius Carry’s (Sho-Nuff) Death
Here is the thing that many people didn’t know- Julius Carry actually passed away nearly nine years ago from pancreatic cancer. He was only 56 years old, and was still a working actor.
His death was slightly covered in the mainstream media, but not all that much. Maybe the world was still so much in shock at the news that the legendary, Isaac Hayes, died suddenly 10 days prior to Carry (on August 10th, 2008), that the news about the death of Carry’s- who is a legend in his own right- kind of flew right under the radar when he passed away on August 19, 2008. So we wanted to bring his life and death to the forefront once again, for those of us who may not have caught the local news program that day and to pay respect to the brotha.
Carry didn’t have any children and he was survived by his wife, Naomi.
His Diversity As An Actor Was Far Beyond ‘Sho-Nuff’
Although we primarily know Carry as “Sho-nuff”- the ‘baddest mofo’ around- he actually had a pretty lengthy career and was one of the most underrated versatile actors in the game. He got his start in acting through “Hamlet” stage plays and after getting his film start in the 1979 film, Disco Godfather, starring Rudy Ray Moore, Carry went on to have a solid acting career not only with the Last Dragon, but he also had recurring roles in popular TV shows like Two Guys And Girl, Boy Meets World, Grown Ups, The District, Cosby, Murphy Brown, It’s A Living and Duet.
Carry had a ton of TV show guest roles under his belt as well, over 100 to be exact, in shows including Hill Street Blues, Jag, Spin City, The Hughleys, and Moesha.
At the time of his death, Carry was actually still working on Disney’s Boy Meets World, but once he passed away they wrote into the show’s script that his character, “Sgt. Alvin Moore” had also passed away.
Samuel Jackson Was Supposed To Play ‘Sho-Nuff’ In Last Dragon Remake?
In October of 2008, Columbia Pictures, along with Berry Gordy’s son, Kerry Gordy, and RZA of the rap group, WuTang, and John Davis- who were all listed as co-producers- were reportedly in the process of remaking The Last Dragon. It was announced after Carry died, that Samuel Jackson was cast to play the role of “Sho-nuff.”
We’re not sure why that production never saw the light of day, but for whatever reason it was canned. It would have been interesting to see Samuel Jackson with ‘the glow’ and fighting off “Bruce Leroy,” but it probably wouldn’t have been the same without Carry’s touch (no diss to Jackson, he’s a helluva actor, but some things just don’t need to be changed).
Actors like Julius Carry will forever be etched into the fabric of our culture and we’re grateful that we were able to have lived in a time to witness him create magic on film and leave a lasting memory in our hearts. May he continue to rest well.
