The death has been announced of Chicago Fire star DuShon Monique Brown, who passed away on Friday in a US hospital at the age of 49.
The Chicago native died at the St James Olympia Field Hospital in Illinois. Brown's manager, Robert Schroeder, said the actress had died of natural causes. A post mortem has been scheduled.
Brown had played the role of administrator Connie on Chicago Fire since the show's first season in 2012.
Paying tribute, the firefighter drama's executive producer Dick Wolf said: "The Chicago Fire family is devastated to lose one of its own. Our thoughts and prayers are with DuShon's family and we will all miss her."
A former school counsellor and a veteran of the Chicago stage, Brown's other screen credits included Prison Break, Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams, Empire and Shameless.
Brown's Chicago Fire colleagues have been paying tribute:
@DuShonMonique Your lovingkindness and understanding have been a safe place of great importance to me. I will always love you. I miss you. pic.twitter.com/ZFfvXC0ZnP
— Kara Killmer (@karakillmer) March 24, 2018
Our beautiful Dushon Monique Brown passed away on Friday. You will be sorely missed by your family and ourselves. Thanks for all the great laughs we had. Love 🙏🏻 https://t.co/As3qkLnclg
— Jesse Spencer (@Jesse_Spencer) March 24, 2018
Very sad to hear about DuShon's passing yesterday. I'm grateful we got to work with her and so happy she got to make millions of people smile. She will be greatly missed.
— Derek Haas (@derekhaas) March 24, 2018
This is a gofundme page for DuShon Brown, our beloved Connie. Please follow the link. https://t.co/IeCwXBUuQc
— Yuri Sardarov (@yursar) March 24, 2018
