Cult horror favorite Reggie Bannister, best known for playing the unforgettable ice-cream-truck driver Reggie in the Phantasm franchise, has died at 80.
His wife, Gigi, announced that Bannister died Sunday after years of serious health problems.
In an emotional Facebook post, she said she checked on him at around 3:45 a.m. and found him “panting but quiet and asleep.”
A few hours later, she realized he had died.
“He no longer suffers. He’s no longer in pain. That gives me solace,” Gigi wrote, calling Bannister her “best friend, my confidant, my partner, my soul mate.”
Bannister had entered home hospice care in February 2025 as his health continued to decline.
A fundraiser created to help with his care said he had been battling Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
For horror fans, Bannister will always be closely tied to Phantasm, the strange and beloved cult franchise that began with director Don Coscarelli’s 1979 original.
His character, also named Reggie, became one of the most recognizable figures in the series.
Bannister returned for four sequels, including Phantasm II, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, Phantasm IV: Oblivion and 2016’s Phantasm: Ravager.
His work helped make him a familiar face to generations of horror fans who followed the franchise for decades.
Bannister was born in Long Beach, California, in 1945.
Before becoming an actor, he served in the military during the Vietnam War. He later used the GI Bill to study acting and pursue a career in entertainment.
Outside of Phantasm, Bannister also appeared in films including Wishmaster, Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation and Not Another B Movie.
But it was his long-running role as Reggie that defined his career and made him a cult-horror icon.
His death marks the loss of another familiar face from one of horror’s most enduring franchises, and fans are mourning an actor whose connection to Phantasm lasted for nearly four decades.