Actor Dearon 'Deezer D' Thompson dies at 55" Dearon “Deezer D” Thompson, the actor who portrayed nurse Malik McGrath on the beloved NBC medical drama ER, has died at the age of 55.  On Friday, news broke that the actor had passed on Thursday, January 7, after being found unresponsive at his Los Angeles home. It is believed Thompson died from a heart attack, though an official cause of death has not yet been disclosed. He previously underwent open-heart surgery in 2009 to replace an aorta and fix a leaky heart valve. Thompson's brother confirmed the news with a post on Instagram, which he captioned "My Big Brother! God is with you. I will miss you." In addition to appearing in 190 episodes of ER from 1994 until 2009 as nurse Malik McGrath — including the pilot and series finale — Thompson also appeared in movies such as Fear of a Black Hat, CB4, Bringing Down the House, and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.