Chris Penn dies in Los Angeles (brother of Sean Penn)

[LionDen]

Actor Chris Penn has died in a Santa Monica residence, with no signs of foul play, a local ABC television affiliate reported on Tuesday.

Penn, 43, was the brother of actor Sean Penn and starred in dozens of films.

He played baby-faced criminal Nice Guy Eddie Cabot in director Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" and starred along with his brother in the 1986 film "At Close Range." He also played Willard Hewitt in "Footloose" in 1984.

Recently, Penn voiced Officer Eddie Pulaski in the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas."

Santa Monica police and the Los Angeles County Coroner were not immediately available for comment.

[Kellie]

RIP


The headlines in Australia say "Sean Penn's brother found dead".....I find it sad that even in death he is still in the shadows of his 'more' famous brother

[OMEN]

Obituary: Chris Penn

Chris Penn was a highly-rated character actor who developed a tough guy image through roles in a Quentin Tarantino film.

The younger brother of acclaimed actor Sean Penn, he had built up a solid body of work since his debut in the 1983 gang movie Rumble Fish.

Born in the early 1960s in California, he was the son of television director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan.

He began studying acting at age 12 at California's Loft Studio.

After Rumble Fish, Penn played the hero's best friend in 1984 hit dance movie Footloose and went on to secure further supporting roles during the 1980s.

It was, however, his roles in two Quentin Tarantino films that brought him to public prominence and cemented his image as a movie tough guy.

He delivered what The Washington Post called an "extraordinary performance" as gangster Nice Guy Eddie in Tarantino's 1992 cult drama Reservoir Dogs and followed this up with a role as a drugs officer in True Romance in 1993, which was written by Tarantino.

Success

His success continued during the 1990s with roles in films such as the Robert Altman film Shortcuts and The Funeral, for which he won a best supporting actor award at the 1996 Venice International Film Festival.

He also provided the voice of Officer Eddie Pulaski for 2004's best-selling video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

He was scheduled to attend the premiere of his latest film, The Darwin Awards, on Wednesday at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in which he appears with actors Winona Ryder, Joseph Fiennes and David Arquette.

BBC