Tragedy in San Francisco: Passionate actor loses his life in accident just hours before his big theatrical debut

Tragedy in San Francisco

A pedestrian who was killed in a two-car accident over the weekend in San Francisco was just hours away from fulfilling his lifelong dream of performing in his first play of the season.

Richard D. May found his calling late in life, in acting.

But tragically, his life was cut short when his colleagues say he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

At 65 years old, Richard D. May was thriving in his passion for acting at the African Shakespeare Company.

On Saturday morning, around 10:40 a.m. in San Francisco, May was walking on Post Street at Hyde.

Sherri Young is the executive director and founder of the theater company that May discovered and began acting with in March.

Young said, "If he had waited to buy something at a café and had missed that accident, he would have been performing in his first play with us."

Richard D. May was scheduled to perform on that fateful Saturday night, October 28th, in the first of three weekends of "Death of a Salesman."

May was a very popular actor in the company.

Young shared, "Everyone was so excited. He was such a talented individual; we took to him right away. He was cast in 3 out of the 4 plays this season!"

But the show for Saturday night could not go on.

Young shared that the stage director kept calling May's cell phone as the showtime approached.

The show had to be canceled.

The cast was devastated.

Anthony Bernardo was working when he heard the crash.

He described a white BMW speeding east on Post Street through the Hyde Street intersection, hitting a black Audi that spun and struck May as he was walking on the street.

"I heard a car going really, really fast and then we heard three loud crashing noises. Boom, boom, boom! We ran out and it was chaotic."

The San Francisco police arrived immediately, according to Bernardo.

The driver of the white BMW was arrested at the scene.

Richard D. May died at the scene.

Young said, "He had overcome challenges and more, but he was soaring high! Soaring high!"

"He was living one of his best lives doing what he loved."

Darien Caine, a colleague who had been acting for five years in the company, shared, "May had a radiance that defied everything you could have expected from someone who had been through so much."

From homelessness to substance abuse, Young shared that May had overcome those obstacles and was passionate about being in the theater.

Caine said, "We will miss him dearly!"

Location: Post Street & Hyde Street, San Francisco, CA, USA

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