Comedian AJ Johnson From ‘Friday’ Dies Aged 55, After Massive Heart Attack

‘Friday’ & ‘House Party’ Actor Anthony ‘AJ’  Johnson Dead At 55

Comedian AJ Johnson, best known for playing the character Ezal from the popular movie, Friday, has died. Family and friends close to the actor believe that drugs and/or alcohol may have contributed to his death.

AJ was born in Compton, California, his father was a stuntman and a founder of the Black Stuntmen’s Association. Johnson began acting in his early twenties.

In 1990 he landed a starring role as E.Z.E. in House Party, after which he started doing stand-up in bars in Los Angeles. He later appeared in Lethal Weapon 3 as a drug dealer and in Menace II Society.

His biggest role was in the 1995 comedy Friday, as Ezal, a crackhead and thief.

He has also appeared in Panther, The Players Club, B*A*P*S, I Got The Hook Up,[1] Def Jam’s How to Be a Player and Repos, and in rap videos: in Dr. Dre’s “Dre Day” (1992), he played Sleazy-E, a parody of Eazy-E, and he appeared again as Sleazy-E in the video for Eazy-E’s “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s” (1993), this time being assaulte.

Here’s a video showing some scenes with the comedian: