Erica Ash, the “Mad TV” alum who also starred on “Real Husbands of Hollywood” and “Survivor's Remorse,” has died. She was 46.
The film and television actress died on Sunday after a “long and courageous battle with cancer,” her family said in a statement to The Times. “She passed away peacefully surrounded by her loved ones.”
Ash had been battling metastatic breast cancer, her publicist confirmed Tuesday.
“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our beloved daughter, sister and friend Erica Chantal Ash,” her mother, Diann Ash, said in the statement. “Erica was an incredible woman and a talented artist who touched countless lives with her sharp wit, humor and genuine zest for life. Her memory will live forever in our hearts.”
Ash, who starred in the BET legal drama “In Contempt” and four seasons of the Kevin Hart parody series “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” was memorialized by the networks Monday for “witty and funny parts.”
“We send our deepest condolences and love to her parents, siblings, friends and family,” BET said on Instagram. “Fly high, Queen.”
Actress Loni Love, who hosted BET’s former talk show “The Real,” also praised her “talented and funny friend” who “gave everything she had to her job.”
“She was always there… now she's gone… My condolences to her family,” Love tweeted.
Though Ash began working on stage at a young age, with a Broadway job in “Baby It’s You” and a touring production of “The Lion King,” she had no intention of working in the entertainment industry at first. She graduated from Emory University, where she studied medicine, but said she felt unfulfilled and took a break to “figure it out for myself,” she told The Times in 2017.
Erica Ash, who played Mary Charles “M-Chuck” Calloway on the Starz series “Survivor's Remorse,” discusses the role comedy has played in her life.
She set off for Japan and landed a job as a singer within her first week, did some modeling and also dabbled in voice-over work. There she also landed her first film and earned enough money to pay off her student loans.
“Literally, one thing led to another, so I tell people I’m the Forrest Gump of my field. I just walked through life blindly, on faith, and said ‘yes’ to the things that came my way, and that got me here,” Ash said.
Her varied career also included some stand-up comedy, but she opted for a different path after acknowledging that she is “a stage and on-camera actress” and that “stand-up just isn't my blessing.”
“Even though I got a good reception overall, I just didn’t like how it felt. It was a little bit too dark for me, emotionally. It felt dark, being on stage doing an hour-long audition. I dipped my toe in the water and thought, ‘Oops, too cold! ’” she said.
However, the actress established herself in comedic work, joining the casts of “The Big Gay Sketch Show” in 2006 and “Mad TV” in 2008. A few years later, she broke out as Kendra Brooks in the 2013 horror parody “Scary Movie V” and landed the role of Bridgette Hart on “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” which aired on BET from 2013 to 2016.
“The first year of that show, that was all people wanted me to play. But I was like 'no' and decided I was just going to figure it out.” [financially]“I’m sorry,” he told The Times.
“Luckily, I’m very good with money. That gave me the opportunity to say ‘no’ and wait to see what else came along. My agents were telling me I was going to stay out of the loop, but I was like, ‘I don’t want to be in the loop and be pigeonholed. ’ When another role came along, M-Chuck in ‘Survivor’s Remorse,’ it was perfect.”
Ash said his goal was to have a full career. He played M-Chuck on the Starz drama series “Survivor's Remorse” from 2014 to 2017 and also appeared on the Jennifer Lopez series “Shades of Blue” and the CW vampire drama “Legacies.”
“I live my life like I’m writing a book, because at the end of the day, when I’m in a nursing home and no one wants to visit me, I’ll have the stories of my life to entertain me,” she said.
“I want to make decisions based on what I want to read about myself when I’m older. For me, it’s just about growing up and moving forward.”
The family asked that any donations be made to the Susan G. Komen Cancer Foundation or other breast cancer foundations and said it was “grateful for the kind expressions of love and support during this difficult time.”
