Lee Daniels Mourns Death of His Sister Lydia, Who Inspired Taraji P. Henson's “Empire” Character Cookie

Lee Daniels is mourning the death of his younger sister Lydia Ruth Daniels-Rooks.

"As the fires are burning, so is my heart. My younger sister Lydia has passed,” the Oscar-nominated director, 65, wrote on Instagram Friday, Jan. 10.

“She was also my best friend,” he added, noting that she helped inspire the larger-than-life matriarch Taraji P. Henson played on Daniels’ 2015–2020 Fox series Empire. “In Empire, the character of Cookie was based partly on her life. She’s left four beautiful children and five grandchildren behind. RIP Girly…I LOVE YOU FOREVER."

Daniels did not specify a cause of death for Daniels-Rooks, who was 64.

The comments underneath The Deliverance director's tribute were flooded with words of sympathy from other celebrities, including Halle Berry, who starred in 2001's Monster’s Ball, which Daniels produced. “Sending all my love to you and your family,” the Oscar winner wrote.

Related: Paying Tribute to the Celebrities Who Have Died in 2024

“So sorry for your loss. Praying for you and your family,” wrote talk show host Tamron Hall. Emmy-winner Billy Porter added, “Sending you all the love and peace that’s possible.”

Daniels, one of five siblings raised in West Philadelphia, previously opened up to Ad Week about competing with his brothers and sisters for attention during their childhood. “When you have a lot of siblings, you always do something to feel special. I was beating my sisters up — I was a total jerk,” he told the outlet.

Daniels said at the time that Empire’s Cookie was based on his sister as well as his mother and grandmother. “My grandmother was a corrupt politician in the ’60s. She had many of the judges in her pocket in Philadelphia — and she carried a gun,” he said.

Henson admitted in 2015 that she was initially intimidated by the character on the primetime soap about a family of music moguls.

“Cookie scared the hell out of me. [I was] like, ‘Hip-hop? Oh my God, what are they trying to do? Fox is going to pick this up? This isn’t HBO?’ And then I got nervous and started pacing the floor. ‘Oh my God, Cookie is bigger than life. You will love her or hate her,’ ” Henson said.

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