Rio Hackford, son of director Taylor Hackford and IG-11 actor in The Mandalorian, has passed away. The beloved club owner, director, and actor, reportedly died of an illness on Thursday, April 14, 2022, in Huntington Beach, California. He was 52 years old.
Rio's passing was confirmed by his brother Alex Hackford. Alex was also the one who revealed that the Swingers actor passed away due to an undisclosed illness.
In addition to being an actor in films like Jonah Hex, Pretty Woman, and Strange Days, Rio was a respected club owner who was known for managing Matador and One-Eyed Jacks in New Orleans, and Homestead in San Francisco. As someone who was close to rock bands, he also directed music videos for Josh Homme’s Desert Sessions and Corrosion of Conformity.
Rio is known to Star Wars fans as the on-set performer of IG-11, the droid who is voiced by Taika Waititi in The Mandalorian. His most recent role was as a manager in the biographical drama Pam & Tommy, which chronicled the marriage between actress Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee during the time their unauthorised sex tape was made public.
Screenwriter D.V. DeVincentis paid tribute to Rio in a lengthy Instagram post. “Not simply obsessed with movies and how they mirrored and compelled, he was something more: a superfan of innumerable scenes, of particular gestures of unsung actors, weird career turns, roaring comebacks, cinema swan songs,” he wrote.
“He was a great magnet to creative people, with a Zelig-like path that could make a page-turner of a biography. He loved the alchemy of personalities and talents, and was one of the great facilitators in this respect,” DeVincentis added.
Rio Hackford is survived by his wife Libby Grace; two children; brother Alex Hackford; his father Taylor Hackford; and stepmother Helen Mirren.
Related: The Mandalorian Season 3 Will Reportedly Resurrect IG-11
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