Charles F. Porter Dies at 47 After Long Battle With Hodgkin Lymphoma

Charles F. Porter, a former athlete, actor and producer, has died at 47 after a long battle with Hodgkin lymphoma. His family confirmed his death to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Porter died at his home in Calabasas, California, on Monday, November 2, with his wife of 18 years, Candice Tab-Porter, at his side. He was first diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2010 and lived with the disease for more than 17 years, through a stem cell transplant, three returns of the cancer and a CAR T-cell transplant in January 2022.

Porter was best known as the actor who played pioneering Black NASCAR driver Wendell Scott in the 2011 ESPN film Wendell Scott: A Race Story. In recent years he had moved behind the camera, founding Black Bench Productions and producing the 2025 independent film Finding Faith, starring Paula Patton, Loretta Devine and Keith David.

Quick Facts

From Duke Football to Hollywood

Charles Frederick Porter II was born on March 13, 1979, in Oxford, England. His father served in the Air Force and his mother was British. The family moved to the United States when Porter was three years old, and he grew up in America. He attended Rumsey Hall and The Lawrenceville School before going on to Duke University, where he earned a degree in cultural anthropology.

At Duke, Porter was a four-year football letterman and one of the top defensive tackles in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Sport shaped his early life and gave him the discipline that friends and colleagues later said defined everything he did. He was an athlete first, and the idea of acting came later. After college he moved to Los Angeles in 2002 to begin an acting career, starting with small parts and guest roles while he learned the business from the inside.

His early television work arrived steadily through the 2000s. He appeared on the sitcom The Parkers and took guest roles on dramas of the time, including House, Bones and Without a Trace. He also appeared in the films Johnny Was and Peppermint, and he took the lead in the 2006 horror thriller Nailed. None of these parts made him a household name, but together they built a working actor who understood a set from every angle. That grounding mattered later, when he began to produce films himself.

The Role That Defined Him: Wendell Scott

Porter’s breakthrough came in 2011, when he played legendary Black NASCAR driver Wendell Scott in the ESPN film Wendell Scott: A Race Story. Scott was the first Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, taking victory in 1963, and his story had waited decades for a proper telling on screen. Porter carried the film in the title role, and the part became the one most closely tied to his name for the rest of his career.

The role suited Porter in more ways than one. Like Scott, he was an athlete who had fought for a place in a world that did not always welcome him. Like Scott, he understood what it meant to keep going when the odds were long. The film told the story of a man who raced with little money and little support, yet still found a way to win. Porter played him with a strength that viewers remembered.

Readers who follow such stories may also want to read about Alan Jones, the Formula 1 world champion who died at 80, another tale of a driver whose career left a lasting mark on motorsport. For Porter, the film was more than a career high point. It was a story about dignity under pressure, and it matched the way he lived his own life.

Finding Faith and Black Bench Productions

In the years after Wendell Scott: A Race Story, Porter turned more of his energy toward producing. He founded Black Bench Productions, a company built to develop, package, produce and finance independent films. The company focused on stories of faith, family, resilience and redemption, and on creating opportunities for Black artists and filmmakers. It was not a side project. It was the center of his working life in his final years, and it gave shape to everything he wanted to say as a filmmaker.

His most recent major credit was as producer of the independent film Finding Faith, released in 2025. The film starred Paula Patton, Loretta Devine and Keith David, and it was written and directed by LazRael Lison. It reached theaters through Fathom Entertainment before airing on Lifetime, and Porter also appeared in a role in the film. The project brought together the themes he cared about most, faith, family and second chances.

Porter also produced two films for BET Plus, A Miracle Before Christmas in 2022, starring Keith David, LeToya Luckett and Romeo Miller, and Christmas Angel in 2023, starring Miller, DaniLeigh, Skyh Black, Elise Neal and Tamar Braxton. He produced the thrillers Battered and Grace Point as well, and he served as an executive producer and early investor on Last Meals, an upcoming feature starring Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, Tessa Thompson and Michael Shannon. At the time of his death he was developing a new slate of faith-based films.

A Long Health Battle, Told in His Own Words

Porter was first diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2010. He received a stem cell transplant in 2011, and for a time the treatment worked. But the cancer returned three times over the years that followed, and in January 2022 he received a CAR T-cell transplant, a treatment using a patient’s own immune cells to fight the disease. He wrote about parts of this journey in a blog post, sharing the timeline of his illness in his own words rather than letting others tell it for him.

Those who followed his writing saw a man who faced a frightening illness with honesty and faith. He did not hide the hard parts. He spoke about the treatments, the setbacks and the stretches of waiting, and he kept working through it all. He was also working on a book titled B Plus, inspired by his changed blood type following one of his three bone marrow transplants. The book was still in progress when he died, and it offers a glimpse of how he tried to turn even the hardest part of his life into something that might help someone else.

His family thanked the medical team at City of Hope and Dr. Stephen J. Forman for their care over 18 years. This was not a short battle. He lived with the illness for more than half of his adult life, through remissions and relapses, while he built a career, a company and a marriage. The details above come from what his family and the outlets that reported his death have shared. Readers who want to understand Hodgkin lymphoma should talk to their own doctor.

Family, Tributes and What He Leaves Behind

Porter is survived by his wife, Candice Tab-Porter, to whom he was married for 18 years. She announced his death in a post on social media, writing that Porter lived the highest standard of integrity, never compromised his values, led by example and always did what he said he was going to do. Her words have been shared widely since the news broke, and they capture the way those closest to him saw him.

He died at home in Calabasas, surrounded by his wife, his sister-in-law and his best friend and former Duke teammate William L. Hill. That detail matters to the people who loved him. After years of hospitals and treatments, he spent his final hours at home, with the people who had stood beside him through the longest fight of his life.

Readers may also wish to read about Kimmarie Johnson, the Beverly Hills 90210 actress who died at 50, and about Erin Napier sharing the death of her aunt Mae Mae, two stories of grief and remembrance in the world of television.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Charles F. Porter?

Charles F. Porter was a former Duke University football player, actor and film producer. He appeared on House, Bones, Without a Trace and The Parkers, and he played Wendell Scott in the 2011 ESPN film Wendell Scott: A Race Story. As a producer he founded Black Bench Productions and produced the 2025 film Finding Faith.

How did Charles F. Porter die?

Porter died at 47 from Hodgkin lymphoma. He was first diagnosed in 2010 and lived with the disease for more than 17 years. He died at his home in Calabasas, California, on Monday, November 2, 2026, and his family confirmed his death to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.

What was Charles F. Porter’s most famous role?

His most famous role was playing legendary Black NASCAR driver Wendell Scott in the 2011 ESPN film Wendell Scott: A Race Story. Scott was the first Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, in 1963. The film was Porter’s breakthrough as a leading man.

What films did Charles F. Porter produce?

Porter produced the 2025 independent film Finding Faith, starring Paula Patton, Loretta Devine and Keith David. He also produced A Miracle Before Christmas in 2022 and Christmas Angel in 2023 for BET Plus, and the thrillers Battered and Grace Point. He was an executive producer and early investor on the upcoming feature Last Meals.

Sources

PEOPLE: Charles F. Porter, Actor and Finding Faith Producer, Dies at 47

Entertainment Weekly: Charles F. Porter, Wendell Scott Actor and Finding Faith Producer, Dies at 47

USA Today: Charles F. Porter, Wendell Scott Actor, Dies at 47 After Cancer Battle

Final Thoughts

Charles F. Porter lived a life that moved between worlds. He was a college football player, a working actor, a producer and a man of faith, and he carried the same steady character through each of those roles. He played a racing pioneer on screen and then spent his producing career telling stories of faith and resilience.

Seventeen years is a long time to live with a serious illness, and Porter spent those years working, building a company, making films and standing by his family. He did not let the illness define him. His death at 47 is a sad loss for his family, his friends and the filmmakers and actors he supported. The best way to remember him is through the work itself, the Wendell Scott film and Finding Faith and the other films he brought to life as a producer. Those films will keep reaching audiences, and through them, Charles F. Porter will be remembered.