Cochise From The Warriors Is Dead at 75

David Harris might not be a household acting name, but lots of people might know him for what turned out to be his biggest role: playing Cochise in the 1979 film The Warriors. Harris, 75, died Friday of cancer at his home in New York City, reports the New York Times. The film about street gangs wasn't well received by critics upon its release, but it went on to become a bona fide cult classic. (The film's villain, Luther, clicks some bottles together and chants, "Warriors, come out to play" in one famous scene, and Screen Rant notes that it was an improvised line by actor David Patrick Kelly.)

• "We thought it was a little film that would run its little run and go, and nobody would ever talk about it again," Harris said in this 2019 interview with ADAMICradio. "I was in Hong Kong, I was in the Philippines, I was in Tokyo. I've done a lot of movies, but I get off the plane and people go, 'It's the guy from The Warriors.'"

Harris was born in New York City and attended the High School of Performing Arts, the school depicted in Fame. Variety fills in some details on his long acting career, which includes roles in the films Bubaker, Quicksilver, A Soldier's Story, Fatal Beauty, and James White. He also had regular guest roles on a wide range of TV shows. In the 1970s, he was cast with Meryl Streep and John Lithgow in the play Secret Service. (Read other notable obituaries.)