Katie Holmes' Dawson's Creek co-star Obi Ndefo dead at 51, stars pay tribute: 'Words don't come easy'

The Dawson's Creek family and its fans are mourning the loss of one of their very own.

Obi Ndefo , who starred as Joey Potter’s brother-in-law Bodie in the popular teen show from 1998 to 2002, passed away aged 51 over the weekend. His death comes five years after he lost both of his legs in a hit-and-run accident.

Dawson's Creek aired for six seasons from 1998 to 2003, and starred Katie Holmes , Michelle Williams, James Van Der Beek and Joshua Jackson.

Obi's sister Nkem Ndefo announced her brother's passing in a Facebook post on Saturday, August 31, sharing a selfie of the two together, and writing: "Heartbroken at the loss of my younger brother and knowing he's finally at peace." No cause of death has been disclosed.

Obi was a graduate of Yale University's prestigious drama school, and though his last acting credit is an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles in 2021, and before that another TV series in 2017, he also previously had roles on The West Wing, NYPD Blue, Star Trek: Voyager, Angel and The Jamie Foxx Show.

Mary-Margaret Humes , who starred as James' character Dawson's mom Gale Leery, took to Instagram to pay tribute to her former co-star, sharing a video montage featuring stills from the show plus a behind-the-scenes video of him and Katie sharing a hug.

© Facebook

"These words don't come easy," she wrote, adding: "It's hard for me to conceive that you have left us, my dear friend."

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She continued: "You always were and always will be a bright shining light. What an example of pure unfiltered love and tenacity you set as you faced life's challenges of recent."

"I will cherish all of our messages of love and support to each other over the past few years. Rest in peace sweet warrior," Mary-Margaret concluded, and tagged some of her co-star's Instagram handles, including Katie, Joshua and James'.

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© Instagram

Fans were then quick to take to the comments section under the post with their condolences. "I have always told people his courageous story after the accident happened. He was such an inspiration to me," one wrote, as others followed suit with: "Oh no! So sorry for your loss," and: "I'm so sorry to hear this. He'll always remain Bodie to so many of us. Rest in peace, our friend," as well as: "Oh no. I'm so sorry to hear this."

After his accident in 2019, he told the Los Angeles Times : "This is just so horrendous what happened to me, why would I compound this by feeling bad about it?" and noted: "There is no other choice for me. So there's a sort of rigor to me, and I think, 'OK my legs are severed. I don't know how to do this, but I know how to do this.'"