Their daughters were still very young when they lost their father.

But Candice said the lessons he gave them would remain long after his death.

The love between Charles and Candice also remained remarkably strong throughout their years together.

Her tribute included one particularly intimate memory.

“Even after all that time I still got butterflies when I saw his car coming up the street just knowing he was coming home to us.”

It was the kind of detail that revealed the man behind the professional achievements.

For them, the most meaningful moments were not premieres or television appearances.

They were ordinary moments at home.

Candice said the couple tried to make those moments count.

“He made every moment count. Because of him we lived many lives in the beautiful 18 years we were given.”

Long before Porter entered entertainment, however, another career seemed possible.

He was born in Oxford, England, to an American father and an English mother before moving to the United States as a child.

Athletics became a major part of his life.

Porter eventually attended Duke University, where he played Division I football as a defensive player.

For a time, he hoped to continue into professional football.

A serious back injury changed those plans.

His hopes of pursuing an NFL career ended, and Porter eventually turned toward acting.

That unexpected change of direction eventually opened another door.

Porter began appearing in television shows during the 2000s, including *The Parkers*, *House*, *Bones*, and *Without a Trace*.

Then came one of the most important roles of his acting career.

In 2011, he portrayed Wendell Scott, the pioneering Black race-car driver who became the first Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.

The role introduced Porter to a wider audience.

But increasingly, his ambitions moved behind the camera as well.

He founded Black Bench Productions, through which he sought to develop inspirational independent films and create opportunities for Black actors and filmmakers.

His production work eventually included projects such as *A Miracle Before Christmas*, *Christmas Angel*, and *Finding Faith*.

The 2025 film *Finding Faith* became one of his final major projects.

The film starred Paula Patton, Loretta Devine, Keith David, Stephen Bishop, and Nadine Velazquez.

Porter helped bring the project to the screen and also appeared in a small role himself.

Behind those career accomplishments, however, was a medical battle that stretched across much of his adult life.

Porter was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2010.

The following year, he underwent a stem cell transplant.

But the cancer returned.

And then it returned again.

Over the years, Porter reportedly experienced three recurrences and continued undergoing treatment, including CAR T-cell therapy in 2022.

Yet rather than speaking only about what cancer had taken from him, Porter sometimes described what the experience had taught him.

In a 2023 interview with Stand Up To Cancer, he reflected on how profoundly the disease had changed his perspective.

“Cancer has had a major hand in shaping me into the man that I am today.”

He did not pretend the experience had been easy.

There had been fear.

Pain.

Anger.

Uncertainty.

But Porter also believed his illness had intensified his appreciation for the life happening around him.

“Cancer has created challenges — causing sadness, pain, anger, and uncertainty — while at the same time bringing much joy, celebration, and, most importantly, a greater appreciation for life moment to moment.”

That philosophy seems especially poignant in light of his wife’s tribute.

For years, the family lived with uncertainty.

Treatments worked.

The cancer returned.

Hope was rebuilt.

Then another challenge appeared.

Yet Porter continued acting, producing, writing, mentoring, and raising his daughters.

He refused to allow the illness to become the only story told about him.

His professional legacy includes television work, independent filmmaking, and his portrayal of an important figure in NASCAR history.

But for Candice and their daughters, his legacy is far more personal.

It exists in the values he taught.

The memories they created.

The way he came home.

The way he treated people.

And the determination he showed while navigating an illness that followed him for more than a decade.

Porter is survived by Candice and their daughters, Layla and Juliette, along with his mother, siblings, and other members of his extended family.

Candice ended her farewell with a promise.

“Until we meet again I will be looking for every eagle, deer and #52 I can find, knowing that you will always still be with us.”

Then came the words of someone confronting a loss that cannot simply be overcome.

“This is a loss we will never fully recover from, but we will spend the rest of our lives honoring you and the beautiful legacy you leave behind. I love you forever and ever.”

Charles F. Porter was only 47.

For more than 17 years, cancer remained part of his life.

But according to those who loved him most, it never became the measure of that life.

He was a husband deeply loved after 18 years together.

A father whose two young daughters will grow up carrying his lessons.

An athlete who rebuilt his future when injury ended one dream.

An actor who stepped in front of the camera.

And a producer who worked behind it to help other stories reach the screen.

His battle is over.

But the family he built and the work he left behind remain.