[marden]

Star of Reservoir Dogs found dead in his bed
By Jacqui Goddard

POLICE were last night investigating the death of Chris Penn, the brother of actor Sean Penn and star of Reservoir Dogs, after his body was found in bed at his California home.

Relatives were awaiting the results of toxicology tests and a post-mortem examination to explain the reason for the 40-year-old’s sudden death, though police said that foul play was not suspected.

One of three brothers born to an actress mother and a film director father, Chris Penn started acting at the age of 12 but at times struggled to break out of the shadow of his Oscar-winning brother, Sean. His other brother, Michael, works as a singer-musician.

“There is a whole lot more soul and nuance to Chris Penn than is immediately evident in the mutton-headed roles he’s been pigeon-holed in,” wrote Cintra Wilson, Slate magazine’s film critic, in a series of odes to ‘Hollywood’s unfairly forgotten or unjustly maligned’.

Appearances in more than 50 films such as Footloose, Rumble Fish, All the Right Moves, Rush Hour, True Romance and Mulholland Falls, beside actors including Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon and Tom Cruise, won the younger Penn favourable reviews. In 1986 he co-starred with his brother and their mother, actress Eileen Ryan, in At Close Range.

Most notable among his performances was his role as Eddie Cabot, a shell-suited mobster and one of the last characters left standing in Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 blockbuster, Reservoir Dogs. More recent ventures included a part in the 2004 film Starsky & Hutch, and playing the voice of Officer Eddie Pulaski in the Grand Theft Auto video games.

Penn’s latest film, The Darwin Awards, was due to have its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah last night. Named after a tongue-in-cheek internet award that honours those who kill themselves in a “spectacularly stupid manner”, it shows Penn as a duck-hunter who hurls a stick of dynamite on to a frozen lake to blow a hole, only for his dog to return it to him.

Show business colleagues were among those rallying around the Penn family last night.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...010423,00.html

[rjenkinson]

-r.

[Cody Dawg]

I went out on a few dates long ago with him when he lived in Venice Beach (he lived in a concrete block house - green) and he was really nice to me. Sent me a puppy as a gift once. I was only in California for a little while and he loved to party a lot. (A LOT.) But he was a really nice guy.

I was very sad when I read this.

[Caetano]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I went out on a few dates long ago with him w

I guess if you knew he was Sean Penn's brother, you wouldn't, 'cause, you know, Sean Penn belongs in Iran and all. How mighty of you.

R.I.P

[Artful Dodger]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

he was really nice to me.

I bet he was


oh, and RIP

[Rolling Bones]

I don't know how he died but he looked like a heart attack on legs.

Fat and always red in the face.



Anyway to his family: Sorry for your loss.

[leehotti]

Who?

[stevesnj]

Jeff Spicoli's brother....duh

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Caetano

I guess if you knew he was Sean Penn's brother, you wouldn't, 'cause, you know, Sean Penn belongs in Iran and all. How mighty of you.

R.I.P

Aww how cute. Someone is hiding behind new accounts and being mean.

[JoshuaZ]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Aww how cute. Someone is hiding behid new accounts and being mean.

Ahh... the true spirit of the internet lives on. In each of us.

[wdlove]

My prayers go out to his family and friends. May Chris Penn now rest in peace.

[nredman]

i only remember him from Reservoir Dogs - rip

[jjlannoo]

Although I get **** for it. One of My favorite movies is FootLoose. He played a great role in that

[Caetano]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Aww how cute. Someone is hiding behind new accounts and being mean.

WTF you talking about?