Actor Michael Wright, best known for “The Five Heartbeats”, “V” and “The Principal”, has died aged 70, his family has announced. New details say he died in Los Angeles on 19 August following heart failure and complications from the degenerative neurological condition Marchiafava-Bignami disease.

Born in New York City in 1956, Wright appeared in more than 50 film and television productions. He was particularly recognised for playing Eddie King Jr, the troubled lead singer in the 1991 musical drama “The Five Heartbeats”, and also appeared in “Oz”, “Streamers”, “Sugar Hill” and “The Wanderers”; his family said further memorial information would follow.