Queer actor Wenne Alton Davis, known for Maisel, Normal Heart, killed in NYC car crash

Wenne Alton Davis, a queer actor who appeared in TV shows and films including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Normal Heart, and Rescue Me, was killed in a traffic accident Monday evening in New York City.

Davis, 60, was crossing Broadway at West 53^rd Street in Manhattan about 9 p.m. when struck by a Cadillac SUV, the New York Daily News reports. The actor suffered massive head injuries and died at Mount Sinai West. The driver, identified only as a 61-year-old man, was turning left onto Broadway from West 53^rd. “He remained at the scene and faced no immediate charges as cops continue to investigate the crash,” according to the Daily News.

Davis listed they/them pronouns on their Instagram profile, but friends have used she/her pronouns.

“I can only describe Wenne Davis as a bright light,” the actor’s agent, Jamie Harris of Clear Talent Group, said in a statement to The Advocate. “She had a huge love for New York, for acting, and, most of all, for her family and her circle of friends (which was also huge). She was someone for whom friendliness and kindness were not what she did but more who she was as a person. I’ve talked to many of her friends in the past few days and all of them spoke of her generous spirit and love of life. We all agree that she had much more to do in her career as an actor and her life. Literally, no one I’ve spoken to can believe that she’s no longer with us. She will be greatly missed by everyone here at CTG and all who knew and loved her.”

They played a police officer in a 2023 episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, having also portrayed an officer in the 2011 Michael Fassbender-Carey Mulligan film Shame. They appeared as a character named Gloria in the 2014 HBO adaptation of The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer’s play about the early years of the AIDS epidemic.

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Davis’s other credits include the TV series Girls5eva, New Amsterdam, Blind Spot, American Odyssey, and Rescue Me, and the short films Bare Knuckle and Ladies Room. When not acting, Davis worked in security at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Davis, who was born in North Carolina and had family in Iowa, lived in the Forest Hills section of Queens. Edward Reynoso, their next-door neighbor and friend, told the Daily News he was worried when Davis didn’t contact him after going out to dinner and a movie with friends. “I was texting her and she didn’t respond,” he said. I"’m numb, to tell you the truth. I can’t believe it.” A few hours earlier, Davis had told him, “I love you. I appreciate you.”

“I felt like she was saying goodbye,” Reynoso told the publication. “Now that this happened, it all seems so odd to me.”