Jamie Foxx leads the tributes to Quentin Tarantino collaborator Keith Jefferson, who has died aged 53

Tributes are pouring in after the news that actor Keith Jefferson has died at the age of 53; though his cause of death has not been announced, Jefferson revealed in August that he had been diagnosed with cancer. 

Among the tributes paid was one from his ‘Django Unchained’ co-star Jamie Foxx, who took to Instagram to write “This one hurts. Keith, you’ve been nothing but absolute grace, your whole life your heart is pure your love is immeasurable you were an amazing soul. We will all miss you dearly. It’s gonna take a long time for this to heal. Goodbye, my friend. I love you.” He followed that post up with a second tribute, writing "Everything hurts right now having a hard time looking through these pictures reliving the memories of us having a great time going to miss you man gonna miss you…every since we met back in college, you have been in incredible soul God rest, NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE TO SEE THE WORDS ABOUT MY FRIEND RIP."

The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Foxx and Jefferson had a long-standing friendship stemming back from their college days, as Jefferson was a constant in Foxx’s life. Alongside his performance in Tarantino’s spaghetti western, Jefferson appeared in two episodes of ‘The Jamie Foxx Show,’ and more recently worked on the Prime Video drama ‘The Burial.’

Jefferson is perhaps best recognized for his collaborations with acclaimed filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, with the aforementioned ‘Django Unchained’ one of his more significant roles, portraying one of LeQuint Dickey Mining Co. employees.

He went on to appear in Tarantino’s 2015 film, ‘The Hateful Eight,’ as one of the stagecoach drivers, which led to his involvement in Tarantino’s ode to the Golden Age of Hollywood, 2019’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt.

Jefferson also worked as a producer, voiceover artist and acting coach and amongst his other TV and film credits included ‘Relative Opposites,’ ‘Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!,’ ‘You Too,’ ‘Bosch: Legacy’ and ‘Day Shift’ - another Jamie Foxx title. As for the stage, he had roles in such touring and regional theatre productions such as Big River, Othello, Superior Donuts and Piano Lesson.