broadway

Broadway actor who played Simba in ‘The Lion King' dies at 47

Clifton Oliver died early Wednesday morning, according to his sister Roxy Hall

Clifton Oliver
Photo by Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

Broadway Actor Clifton Oliver, best known for playing Simba in ‘The Lion King," has died at 47.

The actor died early Wednesday morning, according to his sister Roxy Hall.

"His partner Richard, was singing to him the song Psalm 23 as he took his last breath this morning at 3:20 AM," Hall wrote in a Facebook post. "He had a gorgeous smile on his beautiful face!! He went twirling into the afterlife ready to make his grand appearance as the star of his homecoming celebration!"

The circumstances around Oliver's death aren't clear, but he spent that last six weeks of his life in the hospital and in hospice care, according to Hall.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

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