John Dye - wikipedia John Dye For the cricketer, see John Dye ( cricketer ). John Dye John Carroll Dye ( 1963 - 01 - 31 ) January 31, 1963 Amory, Mississippi 10 January 2011 ( 2011 - 01 - 10 ) ( aged 47 ) San Francisco, California Occupation Actor Years active 1984 -- 2007 John Carroll Dye ( January 31, 1963 -- January 10, 2011 ) was an American film and television actor known for his role as Andrew in the religious television drama series Touched by an Angel. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Death 4 Filmography 5 References 6 External links Early life Dye was born in Amory, Mississippi, one of three sons of Jim and Lynn Dye, a furniture manufacturer and homemaker, respectively, who raised their sons in the Methodist faith. The family moved to Cleveland, Tennessee, where he attended Cleveland High School, and later to Tupelo, Mississippi. He was introduced to acting by playing the role of Friedrich, the eldest von Trapp child in a school production of The Sound of Music at Cleveland High School. He performed as a trombonist in the band program. He graduated from Tupelo High School, where he again played Friedrich von Trapp. Dye found himself bitten by the acting bug. After graduating, he enrolled at Mississippi State University in hopes of becoming a civil rights lawyer. After a year at Mississippi State University, he decided to become an actor, and was advised against it by his great - grandmother. He transferred to Memphis State and majored in theater. Career In Memphis, Dye discovered that a Judd Nelson film called Making the Grade ( 1984 ) was filming in the area. Dye landed his first film role as `` Skip. '' In 1986 he starred alongside actresses Virginia Madsen and Cynthia Gibb in the comedy film Modern Girls. In 1987 Dye got his first leading role, in the film Campus Man, as Todd Barrett. That same year, he re-teamed with Nelson in the television miniseries Billionaire Boys Club. In 1989, he starred alongside actors James Earl Jones and Eric Roberts in the martial - arts drama Best of the Best. By the time the 1990s came around, Dye decided to make a move towards television. He was cast as Private Francis `` Doc Hoc '' Hockenbury in the last season of Tour of Duty. When the series finished, he moved on to short - lived series such as Jack 's Place ( 1992 ) and Hotel Malibu ( 1994 ). In 1996, he appeared as Andrew the `` Angel of Death '' on Touched by an Angel with Roma Downey & Della Reese. Originally cast as a recurring character, by the third season he was made a regular cast member as his character quickly became popular. The show ran for nine seasons before ending in April 2003. In 2000, he starred in the television movie Once Upon a Christmas. In 2001, he appeared in the sequel Twice Upon a Christmas. In the 1985 music video for the ZZ Top song `` Sleeping Bag '', he appeared alongside fellow actors Tracey Walter and Heather Langenkamp. Death Dye was found dead in his home in San Francisco, California on January 10, 2011. His family reported that he died due to heart - related problems. His funeral was held at St. Andrew 's United Methodist Church in his hometown of Amory, Mississippi, where he and his family were members. His resting place is at Haughton Memorial Park, Amory. Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1984 Making the Grade Skip 1986 Modern Girls Mark Campus Man Todd Barrett 1989 Mother, Mother Jeff Cutler Short film 1989 Best of the Best Virgil Keller 1991 The Perfect Weapon Adam 1994 Sioux City Colin Adams 2005 Heart of the Beholder Manion 2007 Claudette Man in Truck Short film 2009 Fist of the Warrior I.A. Officer Alternate title : Lesser of Three Evils Television Year Title Role Notes Billionaire Boys Club Bob Holmby NBC television film 1988 CBS Summer Playhouse Chip Episode : `` Old Money '' 1988 Murder, She Wrote Andy Broom Episode : `` A Little Night Work '' 1989 -- 1990 Tour of Duty Pvt. Francis ' Doc Hoc ' Hockenberry 18 episodes Room for Romance Craig Holloway Episode : `` Pilot '' 1992 -- 1993 Jack 's Place Greg Toback 18 episodes 1994 Murder, She Wrote Dr. Ray Stinson Episode : `` A Nest of Vipers '' 1994 Hotel Malibu Jack Mayfield 6 episodes 1994 -- 2003 Touched by an Angel Andrew 188 episodes The Nerd Rick Steadman Episode : `` Pilot '' 1996 -- 1998 Promised Land Andrew 4 episodes 2000 Once Upon a Christmas Bill Morgan PAX - TV television film Twice Upon a Christmas Bill Morgan PAX - TV television film References Jump up ^ wtva.com. Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 12. Jump up ^ John Dye Biography, NYTimes.com ; accessed February 27, 2017. ^ Jump up to : Beifuss, John ( 2011 - 01 - 13 ). `` ' Touched by an Angel ' star John Dye has died ''. Memphis Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 2011 - 01 - 13. Jump up ^ `` Community Remembers Touched by an Angel Actor '' Archived 2011 - 01 - 17 at the Wayback Machine. External links John Dye on IMDb John Dye at Find a Grave VIAF : 107485627 LCCN : no98101566 ISNI : 0000 0001 0930 5298 BNF : cb141742198 ( data ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Dye&oldid=807348408 '' Categories : 1963 births 2011 deaths 20th - century American male actors 21st - century American male actors Male actors from Mississippi Male actors from Tennessee American male film actors American male television actors People from Tupelo, Mississippi People from Cleveland, Tennessee University of Memphis alumni American United Methodists People from Amory, Mississippi Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Pages to import images to Wikidata Articles with hCards Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch فارسی Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Piemontèis Polski Português Simple English Suomi Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 27 October 2017, at 11 : 47. 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Question: who played the angel of death in touched by an angel
Answer: John Carroll Dye