Hollywood star Jamie Foxx mourns the loss of his long-time friend and fellow actor Keith Jefferson. The actor, who appeared in the Tarantino films "Django Unchained," "The Hateful Eight" and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," among others, died of cancer on Thursday at the age of 53, his agent confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter .

Django Unchained star Foxx shared pictures with Jefferson on Instagram and sent moving words to his late friend: "It hurts. Keith, you have been nothing but absolute grace all your life, your heart is pure, your love is immeasurable, "You were an amazing soul. We will all miss you very much. This will take a long time to heal. Farewell, my friend. I love you."

The two actors met in college and later appeared in front of the camera together in several major productions. In the 2012 hit film Django Unchained, Foxx played the lead role and Jefferson played the supporting role of Pudgy Ralph. Last year, Jefferson starred in Foxx's Netflix comedy Day Shift. He most recently appeared in the Jamie Foxx film “The Burial,” which will be released on Amazon Prime in mid-October.

In addition to supporting roles in major film productions, Jefferson also performed in musicals and theater and worked as a producer and acting coach. After high school in Houston, Jefferson also had offers to play college football but decided to pursue an acting career. It was only in August of this year that Jefferson made it public that he was suffering from cancer.