Charles F. Porter, the actor and producer known for starring as pioneering NASCAR driver Wendell Scott in ESPN’s Wendell Scott: A Race Story and producing Lifetime’s Finding Faith, died Monday at his home in Calabasas after an 17½-year battle with Hodgkin lymphoma. He was 47. His death was confirmed by his wife, Candice Tab-Porter.
Born Charles Frederick Porter II on March 13, 1979, in Oxford, England, Porter came to the U.S. at age 3 and attended Rumsey Hall and The Lawrenceville School before enrolling at Duke University, where he earned a degree in cultural anthropology and became a four-year football letterman, recognized as one of the ACC’s top defensive tackles. A back injury ultimately ended his hopes of playing professionally, and after losing 65 pounds, he pivoted to acting, moving to Los Angeles in 2002.
Porter appeared across a range of early-2000s television series, including The Parkers, House, Without a Trace, and Bones, before landing the lead role in Wendell Scott: A Race Story in 2011, portraying the first and only Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race. He also starred in and produced the 2006 horror thriller Nailed, had a supporting role in STX’s Peppermint, and appeared in Holla and Johnny Was.
As founder of Black Bench Productions, Porter built a career centered on developing, packaging, and financing independent films rooted in faith, family, and resilience, while creating opportunities for Black artists and filmmakers. He served as the driving force behind Finding Faith, written and directed by LazRael Lison and released theatrically through Fathom Entertainment before airing on Lifetime, starring Paula Patton, Loretta Devine, and Keith David. For BET+, he produced A Miracle Before Christmas and Christmas Angel, and also produced the thrillers Battered and Grace Point. At the time of his death, he was developing a new slate of faith-based films and served as an executive producer and early investor on Last Meals, an upcoming feature starring Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, Tessa Thompson, and Michael Shannon.
Beyond film, Porter worked as a model, appearing in Italian Vogue, an international Adidas campaign, and the Ebony Fashion Fair runway, and published three poetry collections, with a fourth book in progress inspired by his changed blood type following one of his three bone marrow transplants. He also coached youth football and mentored young people across Malibu, Calabasas, and Westlake Village through Brainwashed for Greatness, an organization he founded focused on positivity and personal growth.
In a Facebook post announcing his passing, Tab-Porter reflected on their 18 years together, writing that Porter “lived the highest standard of integrity, never compromised his values, led by example and always did what he said he was going to do.” She added that he “never complained about his battle” and consistently framed it as “part of our journey,” always looking for the silver lining.
In addition to his wife, Porter is survived by daughters Layla Rose and Juliette Jasmine, his mother Dorothy Fourmeax, brother Sydney Sparks-Fourmeax, and sister Natalie Zore, among other family members. His guiding philosophy, his family said, remained simple throughout his illness: “Never Quit.”