A body recently discovered in the Mississippi River has been identified as that of Michael Showers, an actor who had roles on shows like Treme and Breaking Bad. A steamboat captain came upon Showers floating not far from New Orleans’ French Quarter, with local police estimating that he’d been there for at least two days. An autopsy is still being completed. Showers was 45.
Showers is probably best known for playing Treme’s police Capt. John Guidry, who frequently butts heads with David Morse’s Lt. Colson. He also had a small part on Breaking Bad as the union rep who acts as counsel to Hank following his assault on Jesse. His other TV credits include The Vampire Diaries, while he also appeared in films like I Love You Phillip Morris, Traffic, The Tree Of Life, and most recently, Colombiana. He was due to resume filming the third season of Treme this fall.
UPDATE: Treme creator David Simon has issued this statement on Showers' death:
"Michael Showers was a fine actor who contributed his talents to our drama in the warmest and most professional way. We enjoyed his work—and working with him. Going forward, we're going to miss having him as part of our production. All of which seems of little import in light of the loss of a man's whole life, and what that loss truly means to him, his family, his friends. Our respect and condolences go to them, especially."
Simon elaborated on this to The Times-Picayune, praising Showers' nuanced portrayal of a character who represented the "dysfunction" of the New Orleans Police Department at the time, and saying, "We had plans for the Colson character in which Guidry would’ve been relevant. And we’ll obviously go in a different way and will have to adjust. This happens in a continuing series. The important thing isn’t that we have to adjust. The important thing is that his life has ended in a most unfortunate way."