Chris Penn

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For the football player, see Chris Penn (American football). For the English cricketer, see Chris Penn (cricketer).
Chris Penn
Born Christopher Shannon Penn
(1965-10-10)October 10, 1965
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died January 24, 2006(2006-01-24) (aged 40)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Cause of death
 Cardiomyopathy
Resting place
 Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, U.S.
Residence Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Nationality American
Other names Christopher Penn
Occupation Actor
Years active 1979–2006
Parents Leo Penn (deceased)
Eileen Ryan
Relatives Michael Penn (brother)
Sean Penn (brother)
Aimee Mann (sister-in-law)

Christopher Shannon "Chris" Penn (October 10, 1965 – January 24, 2006) was an American film and television actor known for his roles in such films as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, The Funeral, Footloose, Rush Hour, True Romance, All the Right Moves and Pale Rider and in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Early life

Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest son of Leo Penn, an actor and director, and Eileen Ryan (née Annucci), an actress. His paternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Lithuania and Russia,[1] and his mother was a Roman Catholic of Italian and Irish descent.[2] According to Penn's mother, Leo Penn may have had distant Sephardic ancestry, as the family's surname was originally "Piñón".[2] His brothers are actors Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn.

Career

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, starring Christopher Hanks. In 1983, he was featured in Francis Ford Coppola’s youth drama Rumble Fish and appeared in the high school football drama All the Right Moves as the best friend of Tom Cruise's character. He also appeared in the hit dance movie Footloose in 1984 as the best friend of Kevin Bacon's character; played a villain in the Clint Eastwood western Pale Rider (1985); and co-starred with his brother Sean Penn and mother Eileen Ryan in At Close Range (1986).

Penn was typically cast as a tough character, featured as a villain or a working-class lug, or in a comic role. Two of his more memorable performances were in Reservoir Dogs as Nice Guy Eddie and True Romance as Nicky Dimes (both characters in scripts written by Quentin Tarantino). In 1996 he won the award for Best Supporting Actor at the Venice Film Festival for The Funeral.

In 1986, Chris was cast in a short run TV show titled Young Riders. He appeared in season one as a villain and was killed by Josh Brolin's character William Hickock.

Penn, who had a black belt in karate, appeared in the 1989 motion picture Best of the Best as Travis Brickley, a cocky member of the U.S. karate team taking on the team from Korea. The film also starred James Earl Jones, Sally Kirkland, Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee, and Simon Rhee. Penn reprised his role in 1993's Best of the Best 2.

In Robert Altman's ensemble film Short Cuts, Penn played a troubled swimming pool cleaner who is disturbed by his wife's profession (a telephone sex worker who takes calls from clients at home) to which Penn's character is obliged to listen. He also appeared as a fall guy in a criminal conspiracy in Murder by Numbers, alongside Sandra Bullock.

Penn was meant to appear in American Pie 2 as Steve Stifler's father, but the scenes featuring him were eventually cut as there was insufficient time to include him in the film's plot. However, they appeared on the deleted scene reel from the movie's DVD.

In 2003, he appeared on the Will & Grace episode, "Fanilow", as Barry Manilow's tour director and a character who is interested romantically in Will. Penn was featured in an episode of the television crime drama Law & Order: Criminal Intent ("Death Roe") during the 2004–2005 season. He was also featured on the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as the voice of Officer Eddie Pulaski. Penn played himself on a 2005 episode of the HBO series Entourage. He appeared in The Darwin Awards, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival one day after his death.

Penn appears in Jay-Z's "Can I Get A..." music video as a bartender who mixes drinks and dances.

Death

Penn was found dead in his Santa Monica condominium on January 24, 2006, at the age of 40. Although Penn had used multiple drugs in the past, an autopsy performed by a Los Angeles County medical examiner revealed the primary cause of death was "nonspecific cardiomyopathy" (heart disease), with the prescription drug promethazine with codeine and an enlarged heart due to obesity being possible contributing circumstances. Penn appeared slim and fit throughout the 1980s in movies such as Footloose, At Close Range and Pale Rider, but gained considerable weight throughout the 1990s. Sean Penn has said publicly in a TV interview on Larry King Live that his brother probably died because of his weight.[3]

There is conflicting information about Penn's age at the time of death, with some obituaries giving 1962 as his year of birth.[4] In Richard T. Kelly's book, Sean Penn: His Life and Times (2004), Penn's mother indicated that his date of birth was October 10, 1965.[5] He is interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[6]

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ Jews Flop in Big Oscar Award Wins. Jewish Journal.com. March 5, 2004.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kelly, Richard T. (2004), Sean Penn: His Life and Times, New York: Canongate Books, pp. 9–10, ISBN 1-84195-623-6 
  3. ↑ "Sean Penn: Chris's Weight Killed Him". People.com. 
  4. ↑ "Reservoir Dogs' Penn found dead". BBC News. 25 January 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2010. 
  5. ↑ California Birth Index, 1905-1995 about Christop S Penn' Name: Christop S Penn Birth Date: 10 Oct 1965 Gender:Male Mother's Maiden Name:Annucci Birth County: Los Angeles
  6. ↑ Photographer Fracas at Chris Penn Funeral | Celebrity News | Hollywood.com
  7. ↑ Johnson, G. Allen. "Cinequest to show final Chris Penn film." San Francisco Chronicle, February 27, 2013.

External links

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