HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Actor Brad Renfro was found dead Tuesday. He was 25.
Renfro died at a Los Angeles apartment where he spent the night with friends, Craig Harvey, chief investigator for the Los Angeles County Coroner, tells People.
Renfro was heard snoring overnight, but friends called 911 when they discovered him not breathing Tuesday morning. Paramedics declared him dead at the scene at about 9 a.m., Harvey says.
A cause of death was not immediately determined, but Renfro had a history of drug problems.
"Obviously it's a possibility considering his history, but right now all we have is the history of his drinking the previous night," Harvey said of a possible drug overdose. "All that we have is that he was last known to be alive during the morning hours and he was snoring."
The native of Knoxville, Tenn. got his first big break after being discovered by director Joel Schumacher, who cast the then 10-year-old in "The Client." The young actor was joined on screen by Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones in the breakout 1994 role.
He followed with teen movies like 1995's "Tom and Huck," opposite Jonathan Taylor Thomas, before moving on to indie dramas, including 2001's "Ghost World," where he starred alongside Scarlett Johansson, Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi.
During his career, he won "The Hollywood Reporter's Young Star Award" in 1995 and was nominated as one of People Magazine's "Top 30 Under 30."
Renfro recently finished filming "The Informers" with Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton, according to celebrity Web site TMZ.
Renfro had several problems with the law in recent years, including a December 2005 arrest in a heroin sting roundup on L.A.'s skid row. He was charged with a felony count of attempting to possess heroin and driving while intoxicated, for which he served 10 days in jail in May 2006.
Sources told TMZ that the actor had been working hard to stay clean, particularly since last summer.
Article © ASM - All Rights Reserved
- Comment
