In Memoriam: Charles Cyphers

Actor Charles Cyphers, known for Halloween, died on Sunday, August 4, 2024, from a brief illness. He was 85 years old.

In Halloween, Cyphers played Sheriff Leigh Brackett who works with Dr. Loomis to find Michael Myers, despite his skepticism that the killer had return to Haddonfield. He returned for a smaller role in the sequel in which Brackett learns that his daughter, Annie, had been murdered by Michael Myers. Cyphers reprised the role in 2021 for Halloween Kills.

Cyphers was born on July 28, 1939 in Niagara Falls, NY. He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and earned a BA in theater arts from California State University in Los Angeles.

His earliest roles were in Cool Breeze, The Slams, The F.B.I., and Truck Turner in the early 1970s. Cyphers did guest spots in The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Phyllis, Charlie’s Angels, Roots, and Wonder Woman, he did multiple episodes of Barnaby Jones, and he had a recurring role on The Betty White Show.

In addition to Halloween, Cyphers worked with director John Carpenter several other times in Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog, and Escape from New York. He was in Death Wish II and Honkytonk Man, and was in episodes of Benson, The Dukes of Hazzard, Matlock, Dallas, Hill Street Blues, Night Court, China Beach, and 21 Jump Street.

Cyphers starred in the movies Major League, Gleaming the Cube, and Murder in the First, and did episodes of Murder, She Wrote, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Seinfeld, and ER. He was in the series Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher, did episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hyperion Bay, and was in the movies Critical Mass, Dead Calling, and Methodic. His final role was in Halloween Kills.