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Christopher Shannon Penn (October 10 1965 – January 24 2006) was an American film actor. He was the son of noted director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan (born Eileen Annucci), and the brother of actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn. Born in Los Angeles, California, he was the youngest of the three sons. He dated and lived with Steffiana De La Cruz from 1993 to 1999.

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.

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 starring Tom Cruise as his best friend and about-to-be father. He also appeared in the hit dance musical Footloose in 1984, played a villain in the Clint Eastwood western Pale Rider (1985), and co-starred with his brother, Sean, and mother Eileen Ryan in At Close Range (1986).

Penn was typically cast as a supporting actor, featured as a villain or a working-class lug, or in a comic role. Two of his more memorable performances came in Reservoir Dogs as Nice Guy Eddie (the only one who doesn't wear a suit) and True Romance. In 1996, he won the best supporting actor at the Venice Film Festival for The Funeral.

In Robert Altman’s ensemble film Short Cuts, Penn played a troubled pool cleaner who is disturbed by his wife’s profession; she is a telephone sex worker who takes calls from clients at home, to which Penn’s character is obliged to listen. The dramatic ending of the film features the climactic response of Penn’s character to this pent-up sexual frustration and feeling of powerlessness.

Penn was featured in an episode of the television crime drama Criminal Intent during the 2004–2005 season. He was also featured on the 2004 video game 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.

Death

The actor was found dead in his Santa Monica condominium on January 24, 2006.

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 playing a lesser role. Trace amounts of marijuana were found in his body.

There is conflicting information about Chris Penn’s age at the time of death, with some obituaries giving 1962 as his year of birth. His birthdate has been officially substantiated as October 1965, which would mean he was 40. His mother also gives his date of birth as October 10, 1965 in the book Sean Penn: His Life and Times by Richard T. Kelly (2004).

Chris Penn is interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Selected filmography

External links

1965 births | 2006 deaths | American film actors | American television actors | Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery | Entertainers who died in their 40s | Grand Theft Auto actors | Law & Order: Criminal Intent actors | People from Los Angeles

Chris Penn | Chris Penn | Chris Penn | כריס פן | Chris Penn | Chris Penn | Chris Penn | Chris Penn | Chris Penn | Chris Penn | Christopher Penn

 

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