Actor Chris Penn dead at 40

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greenfreak

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Actor Chris Penn Found Dead


LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25, 2006 (CBS) Actor Chris Penn, brother of Sean Penn, was found dead at his Santa Monica condominium, authorities said.

Santa Monica police discovered the actor's body at his first-floor residence around 4 p.m., Lt. Frank Fabrega said. Police said he was 40 but several celebrity Web sites list his age as 43. There were no obvious signs of foul play, Fabrega said. Autopsy results were pending.

"The Penn family would appreciate the media's respect of their privacy during this difficult time," Mara Buxbaum, Sean Penn's publicist, said in a statement.

Penn's body was discovered in a bed inside the residence, located in a four-story complex near the beach on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, said Capt. Ed Winter of the county coroner's office. Authorities were called to the condominium complex by Penn's housekeeper, Winter said.

On Tuesday night, actor Martin Sheen left the condominium complex from a rear exit with two older women but did not comment.

Chris Penn's credits included "Mulholland Falls," "Rumble Fish," "All the Right Moves," "Footloose" and "Rush Hour." He also played Nice Guy Eddie Cabot in the 1992 Quentin Tarantino crime drama "Reservoir Dogs."

Although he was not as well known or praised as his brother Sean, critics said he often was underrated.

"Just as talented as Sean — just a lot less cocky," Slate magazine critic Cintra Wilson wrote of him last year. He "makes you seamlessly believe in characters so much you barely even notice them."

A bar on New York's Lower East Side called "Nice Guy Eddie's" was named for his performance in "Reservoir Dogs." Penn attended the opening and mixed easily with patrons, said David McWater, the bar owner and an acquaintance of the actor.

"He was real nice approachable, just one of the guys. He wasn't standoffish, not trying to be star," McWater said.

Chris Penn comes from a prominent show biz family. His Oscar-winning brother, Sean, has been married to actress Robin Wright Penn for ten years and before that, was husband to Madonna. Chris Penn's other brother, Michael, is a musician, married to singer Aimee Mann.

Sean, Chris and Michael Penn are the children of actress Eileen Ryan, whose credits include "Parenthood," and the late Leo Penn, who was blacklisted during the Red scare of the 1950s and went on to become one of TV's most prolific directors, with credits including "77 Sunset Strip," "Bonanza," "Dr. Kildare," "Ben Casey," "Alfred Hitchcock," "The Fugitive," "Lost in Space," "Ironside," "Marcus Welby," "Columbo," "Hart to Hart," "Matlock" and "Magnum, P.I."

Chris Penn's latest film, "The Darwin Awards," was scheduled to premiere Wednesday at the Sundance Film Festival.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/25/entertainment/main1235999.shtml
 
Someone at work told me about this. I wonder if this was another Belushi/Farley type situation. Very sad. :(
 
I saw this this morning...they said it didn't seem like foul play...is an OD considered foul play?
 
Real World? You must think little of his career not to put him in Entertainment.

I remember his work. He was ... to be fair... average. He reminded me of a more coarse Joe Peschi.
 
The death of a celeb is always a conundrum as tgo where to post it. We've had 'em posted in both forums in the past, and I can show examples of them staying in each.
 
I've never been one to care much if a thread I start gets moved; makes no difference to me. I was just trying to say that my decision on where to put it has nothing to do with what I think of him as an actor. I reread my last post and it came across snotty; that wasn't my intent.

As far as his acting ability, I think he was always doomed to be in supporting roles. I don't think I saw him in anything that made me think he was underrated. Although there have been less-than-handsome types that I've thought were awesome and wished more success for them (Philip Seymour Hoffman for one) or at the very least, a leading role.

But regardless what I think of him, dying at 40 is just so sad.
 
Typically, a death announcement is in the RW if it contains other information (murder, murder/suicide, crushed by a 10-ton boulder. etc)
 
I in return also did not intend to come off as snotty. Apologies offered.



It is quite curious that he died at 40. With the absence of an obvious 'smoking gun' cause of death, I would suspect a straight up heart disease cornonary. My first thought was drug... but there was no report of paraphernalia near or about the corpse or in the domicile.
 
Coronoers report is out:

Englarged heart and a bad mix of prescription meds. Accidental. He was probably feeling some bad symptoms and was convinced it was something else, did bad self medication or had a quack treating him for something else.
 
So your goin' in to see how plugged up yer coronary arteries are Right?

nah din’ think so heh heh
 
unclehobart said:
Coronoers report is out:

Englarged heart and a bad mix of prescription meds. Accidental. He was probably feeling some bad symptoms and was convinced it was something else, did bad self medication or had a quack treating him for something else.
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Hmm... I have an enlarged heart, take multiple meds, etc...

OMG, I'm gonna die!!!!!! Of course, so is everyone else at some point...
 
chcr said:
Hmm... I have an enlarged heart, take multiple meds, etc...

OMG, I'm gonna die!!!!!! Of course, so is everyone else at some point...
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Remember when having a big heart was a good thing?
 
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