Clarence Gilyard, a star of Top Gun and Die Hard, is dead.

Clarence Gilyard, a star of Die Hard and Top Gun, has passed away after a protracted illness. Theo, a computer hacker, was played by the actor, who had a 30 year career, in the popular film Die Hard. The star of Die Hard and Top Gun, Clarence Gilyard, has passed away. The 1955 Washington, D.C., native who is now an actor first enrolled at the US Air Force Academy but left after only one year. Prior to enrolling in an acting class at California State University, Long Beach, he played football while living in Kansas. Clarence Gilyard, a star of Top Gun and Die Hard, has passed away. In the 1986 movie Top Gun, Gilyard portrayed the naval aviation officer Marcus Sundown Williams. Moreover, he performed Conrad McMasters, the right hand man to the attorney Ben Matlock in the hit drama Matlock between 1989 and 1993. Gilyard was also part of the cast in the 1990s crime series, Walker Texas Ranger. Prior to his death, he was working as a theater professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.