Actors - Chris Penn

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	Actors - Chris Penn

Christopher Ryan Penn (October 10 1965 – January 24 2006) was an American film actor. He was the son of noted director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan, and the brother of actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn. He dated and lived with Steffiana De La Cruz from 1993 to 1999.

Career

Born in Los Angeles, California, Penn started acting at the age of 12 at the Loft Studio and made his film debut in 1979’s Charlie and the Talking Buzzard. In 1983, he was featured in Francis Ford Coppola’s youth drama Rumble Fish
and appeared in a small role in the high school football drama All the Right Moves
starring Tom Cruise. He also appeared in the hit dance musical Footloose
in 1984, played a villain in the Clint Eastwood western Pale Rider
(1985), and co-starred with his brother, Sean, and mother Eileen Ryan in At Close Range
(1986).

Penn was typically cast as a supporting actor, featured as a villain or a working-class lug, or in a comic role. Two of his more memorable performances came in Reservoir Dogs
as Nice Guy Eddie (the only one who doesnt wear a suit) and True Romance
. In 1996 he won the best supporting actor at the Venice Film Festival for The Funeral. In Robert Altman’s ensemble film Short Cuts
, Penn played a troubled pool cleaner who is disturbed by his wife’s profession; she is a telephone sex worker who takes calls from clients at home, to which Penn’s character is obliged to listen. The dramatic ending of the film features the climactic response of Penn’s character to this pent-up sexual frustration and feeling of powerlessness.

Penn was featured on Law and Order: Criminal Intent during the 2004-2005 season. During that time, he was featured on the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as the voice of Officer Eddie Pulaski and played himself on a 2005 episode of Entourage. He also appeared in The Darwin Awards
, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival one day after his death.

Death

The actor was found dead in his Santa Monica condominium on January 24, 2006.

Investigators suspect Penn’s death was the result of natural causes or an accident. Penn had suffered from an illness and used multiple drugs in the past, said David Smith, a Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman on January 26. He declined to release details of the illness or say if the drugs were prescribed. Medical examiners performed an autopsy on January 25. A statement released by the county coroner’s office on February 13 gave the primary cause of death as “nonspecific cardiomyopathy” with the presciption drug promethazine with codeine playing a role.

There is conflicting information about Penn’s age at time of death. His birthdate has been officially indicated as October 1965, which would mean he was 40 at the time of his death. However, several sources have also reported his age as 43.

He is interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

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