Justin Pierce

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Justin Charles Pierce (March 21, 1975 – July 10, 2000) was a English-American actor and professional skateboarder active in the United States from 1995.

Born in Paddington, England to an English mother and an American father, Pierce and his parents moved to the Bronx when he was around the age of three. Pierce's parents divorced when he was 15. Pierce began hanging out all night, skateboarding, stealing, and skipping classes. He was discovered by controversial film director Larry Clark while skateboarding in Washington Square Park in Manhattan. This landed him his first role, starring in the 1995 film Kids, which was to prove his most notable.

Pierce re-located to Los Angeles to launch an acting career in 1997. He was married in July 1999.

Other film credits include: A Brother's Kiss (1996), HBO's First Time Felon (1997), BlackMale (1999), Out In Fifty (1999), Next Friday (2000), King of the Jungle (2000), Looking for Leonard (2000), among others.

Pierce also starred in two episodes of the first season of Malcolm in the Middle in 2000.

On July 10, 2000, at the age of 25, he committed suicide by hanging himself in his Las Vegas, Nevada room at the Bellagio Hotel. He was found by hotel security officers and was pronounced dead at the scene. Two suicide notes were found at the scene. Pierce, a Los Angeles resident, had apparently been in Las Vegas to do a video shoot for a fashion company.