Actor Grizz Chapman, who played the character of the same name on NBC’s comedy series “30 Rock,” died Friday. He was 52.
Chapman played a bodyguard for Tracy Morgan’s character alongside Kevin Brown, a fellow bodyguard named Dot Com. Brown shared the news of Chapman’s death on Friday, writing on Facebook “I regret to inform you that Mack Chapman aka Grizz Chapman passed today. May he RIP.”
Donte “Hammer” Harrison, one of the Harlem Globetrotters, wrote that he was Chapman’s cousin and that he had died after battling an illness.
“Life gave my cousin Grizz Chapman some heavy battles, but he fought them with strength and dignity until the very end,” Harrison wrote. “A lot of people knew him as the sitcom star from 30 Rock, but we knew the man behind the screen. A good heart, good energy, and somebody who made an impact in this life. After years of fighting illness and dialysis, he passed peacefully in his sleep on May 22nd, 2026 I’m thankful we got time to reconnect 2 months before his passing. Rest easy, cousin. Your name and legacy will live on forever.”
In the commentary for one of “30 Rock’s” episodes, Chapman revealed that he first met Morgan while working as a bouncer at a strip club and the two became friends. Outside of “30 Rock,” Chapman and Brown appeared together on an episode of HGTV’s home remodeling show “Hidden Potential,” and he became a spokesperson for the National Kidney Foundation after undergoing a kidney transplant.
Chapman is survived by his wife and two children.
