# Badja Djola

Badja Medu Djola (born Bernard Bradley; April 9, 1948 – January 8, 2005) was an American actor from Brooklyn, New York who worked primarily within black film. He is best known for Mississippi Burning, Penitentiary, A Rage in Harlem, and Who's the Man?. He was often seen in tough or villainous roles.

## Career

Djola's breakout role was as Leon Isaac Kennedy’s cellmate, the villainous "Half Dead" Johnson, in the 1979 movie Penitentiary, which led to many more feature films, including a supporting role in Wes Craven’s 1988 movie The Serpent and the Rainbow. He starred alongside Danny Glover in the 1991 film A Rage in Harlem and Doctor Dré in Who's the Man? (1993). In addition to movies, Djola appeared in several television shows, including The X-Files, Nash Bridges, and NYPD Blue. He also starred in theatre performances, with shows including Once in a Wife Time (1981)," Edmond (1984), 227, Southern Rapture (1993), and Dancing on Moonlight (1995),

## Personal life

Djola died of a heart attack on January 8, 2005, in Los Angeles, California.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1979 | The Main Event | Heavyweight in Gym |
| 1979 | Penitentiary | "Half Dead" Johnson |
| 1982 | Night Shift | Cleon |
| 1984 | The Lonely Guy | Native |
| 1985 | The Lightship | Nate |
| 1988 | The Serpent and the Rainbow | Lieutenant Gaston |
| 1988 | Mississippi Burning | FBI Agent Monk |
| 1989 | An Innocent Man | IA Detective John Fitzgerald |
| 1991 | A Rage in Harlem | Slim |
| 1991 | The Last Boy Scout | Alley Thug |
| 1991 | Christmas on Division Street | Scorpio |
| 1992 | The Waterdance | Decton |
| 1992 | Eddie Presley | The Drycleaner (uncredited) |
| 1993 | Who's the Man? | Lionel Douglas |
| 1993 | Marked for Murder | |
| 1994 | Knight Rider 2010 | Zeke |
| 1996 | Heaven's Prisoners | Batist |
| 1997 | Rosewood | John Bradley |
| 1997 | The Brave | Rider |
| 1997 | First Time Felon | Disciple Leader |
| 1998 | Gunshy | Abel |
| 1998 | The Players Club | The Doctor |
| 1998 | Butter | Roscoe |
| 1999 | Deterrence | Harvey |
| 1999 | The Hurricane | Mobutu |
| 2000 | Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel | "Fast Eddie" |
| 2000 | The Price of Air | Sugar |
| 2001 | Night at the Golden Eagle | Gabriel |
| 2005 | Back in the Day | Grant Brown |
| 2005 | Slipdream | Sahdu |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Episode/s |
| 1981 | Palmerstown, U.S.A. | | "The Threat" |
| 1982 | Tales of the Gold Monkey | Oomupwah | "Legends Are Forever" |
| 1984 | Maximum Security | Prisoner Preacher | "Pilot" |
| 1987 | Spenser: For Hire | Tyrone Blackwell | "Among Friends" |
| 1990 | B.L. Stryker | | "Grand Theft Hotel" |
| 1990 | Wiseguy | Etoile de Joie | "Black Gold" |
| 1991 | The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage | Francoise Benoir | "The Not-So-Great Dictator" |
| 1993—1994 | Roc | William Lawn | "Final Analysis" and "Citizen Roc: Part 2" |
| 1995 | The X-Files | Napoleon "Neech" Manley | "The List" |
| 1997 | Nash Bridges | Jack Archer | "Inside Out" |
| 1997 | NYPD Blue | Clyde Bell | "Bad Rap" |
| 1997 | The Last Don | Phil Sharkey | "Part III" |
| 1997 | Millennium | Lacuna | "Sense and Antisense" |
| 1998 | Brooklyn South | Clude Miller | "Skel in a Cell" |
| 1998 | ER | Mike Lembreaux | "Shades of Gray" |
| 1998 | Chicago Hope | Jean Baptiste Marche | "Austin, We Have a Problem" |
| 1998 | Born Free | Motumbo | "Celebration of Life" |
| 2001 | The Fugitive | Dominick | "Lagniappe" |
| 2001 | The Lone Gunmen | Spike | "Maximum Byers" |