If you ever saw the original Magnum, P.I. you might remember the charismatic helicopter pilot “T.C.”, Theodore Calvin, who was buddies with Tom Selleck’s character. That role was played by the late actor Roger E. Mosley, who passed away in 2022. The actor whose work in The Midnight Special, Hit Man, The Mack, and Sweet, Jesus Preacherman was 83 years old.
Today we’re going to explore what happened to this veteran actor. What were the causes, circumstances and conditions in which he died?
Let’s examine his trajectory, celebrate his life, and take a look at his profile. This actor was famous in the 1980s series opposite Tom Selleck, but he is also credited for his work in many other productions worth examining today.
What Happened To TC From Magnum, P.I.?
Roger E. Mosley sadly passed away after sustaining massive injuries in a car crash that took place in Los Angeles, in the Lynwood sector last week. The actor, 83 at the time of his death on 7 August 2022 had worked in twenty-seven films and over twenty tv shows.
Back in August 2022, Mosley was driving in Lynwood, a sector in Los Angeles was involved in a nasty car crash that left him paralyzed from the neck down. He was taken by the emergency responders and hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, he was admitted to the intensive care unit, and died to complications from that motor vehicle accident.
His passing was lamented all over the entertainment world, with friends, family, and co-workers sending their heartfelt and deepest sympathies.
Roger E. Mosley’s Career
Born in Los Angeles in 1938, Roger E. Mosley grew up in Watts, he studied his early years in local schools, graduating from high school and then pursuing an acting career. His first gig was in the 1973 production Terminal Island, where he rubbed elbows with whom he wold work for many years, Tom Selleck.
Mosley held jobs here and there to pay the bills and his first big role was for “Leadbelly” in 1976 under the direction of Gordon Parks.
After Leadbelly, Roger E. Mosley went to an audition for an upcoming CBS show that would eventually catapult him into stardom. That supporting actor role was for a show opposite an actor he met while making Terminal Island, Tom Selleck, who would play a private investigaror and Mosley would play a helicopter pilot.
Eight Years On Magnum P.I.
For eight consecutive years, Mosley worked in Magnum, P.I. as Theodore Calvin, aka TC, a helicopter pilot and aviation enthusiast who ran a tourist charter called “Island Hoppers”. For his participation in Magnum P.I., he developed an interest in aviation, and eventually trained to become a certified helicopter pilot, and while on the set for the famed CBS series he wasn’t allowed to do his own stunts, the man loved adrenaline.
Mosley had camera time on nearly every episode of the CBS series Magnum P.I., appearing in 158 out of 162 episodes starting 1980 all the way to the show’s conclusion in 1988.
But Magnum P.I. wasn’t his only role, that job and his resolute drive made him earn parts in big television shows like Kung Fu opposite David Carradine, Starsky & Hutch, Baretta, Kojak and The Rockford Files, it’s fair to say that he liked working in detective shows and he did so in a golden era for that kind of genre.
And that’s only TV because Mosley had a knack for starring in the blaxploitation film genre during those years, starring in films like Sweet Jesus, Preacherman, Hit Man and The River Niger.
Mosley married Antoinette Laudermilk and lived happily with her for nearly six decades, they had three children together.
Mosley kept a quiet life despite his love for adventure, he never drank nor smoke and drugs weren’t a thing that piqued his interest. In the 2000s, he worked on a couple of shows, including “Las Vegas” opposite James Caan, Vanessa Marcil, Nikki Cox and Josh Duhamel.
Mosley even briefly appeared for the CBS reboot of Magnum P.I. playing a barber and he was honored by the new show’s crew and cast for his longstanding work that made the original series become a cult classic with mass following.
