Chris Penn

Christopher Shannon "Chris" Penn (October 10, 1965 – January 24, 2006) was an American actor. He was typically cast as a tough character, featured as a villain or a working-class thug, or in a comic role and was known for his roles in such films as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, The Funeral, Footloose, Rush Hour, Corky Romano, True Romance, Beethoven's 2nd, Short Cuts, The Boys Club, All the Right Moves, At Close Range, Pale Rider, and as ruthless corrupt cop Edward "Eddie" Pulaski in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

For other uses, see Chris Penn (disambiguation).
Chris Penn
Penn in Corky Romano (2001)
Born
Christopher Shannon Penn

(1965-10-10)October 10, 1965
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedJanuary 24, 2006(2006-01-24) (aged 40)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Cause of deathNonspecific cardiomyopathy
Resting placeHoly Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1976–2006
Parent(s)
Relatives

Penn was found dead in his condominium on January 24, 2006, at the age of 40. An autopsy revealed the primary cause for his death was "nonspecific cardiomyopathy" (heart disease).[1][2]

Early life

Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, to Leo Penn, an actor and director, and Eileen Ryan (née Annucci), an actress. His paternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Lithuania and Russia,[3] and his mother was a Catholic of Italian and Irish descent.[4] His brothers are actor 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, 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. Taekwondo 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.

1990s

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 1990, Chris was cast in a season one episode of The Young Riders. He appeared as a villain and was killed by Josh Brolin's character James Butler "Jimmy" Hickok. In Robert Altman's 1993 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 sometimes obliged to listen. He also appeared as a fall guy in a criminal conspiracy in Murder by Numbers, alongside Sandra Bullock. Penn appears in Jay-Z's 1998 music video "Can I Get A..." as a bartender who mixes drinks and dances. He is also known for playing the character Clyde Cod in the 1998 film Rush Hour.

2000s

In 2001, Penn was meant to appear in American Pie 2 as Steve Stifler's father, but his scenes were eventually cut as there was insufficient time to include him in the film's plot. However, they appeared on the deleted scene reel on the DVD release. Penn then went on to co-star opposite Peter Berg as the mafia brothers of Corky in Corky Romano. 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 crooked officer Eddie. 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 the day after his death.

Death

Penn was found dead in his Santa Monica condo on January 24, 2006, at the age of 40.[5] An autopsy performed by a Los Angeles County medical examiner revealed the primary cause of death was heart disease, with the prescription drug promethazine with codeine and an enlarged heart as factors being possible contributing circumstances. The toxicology report revealed that valium, morphine, marijuana and an elevated level of codeine were found in his bloodstream. Penn 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.[6]

There is conflicting information about Penn's age at the time of death, with some obituaries giving 1962 as his year of birth.[7] In Richard T. Kelly's biography, Sean Penn: His Life and Times (2004), Penn's mother indicated that his date of birth was October 10, 1965.[8]

Penn's gravesite is at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.[9]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1979 Charlie and the Talking Buzzard Pete credited as Christopher Penn
1983 All the Right Moves Brian credited as Christopher Penn
Rumble Fish B.J. Jackson credited as Christopher Penn
Nobody's Heroes N/A Director / Producer / Writer
1984 Footloose Willard credited as Christopher Penn
The Wild Life Tom Drake credited as Christopher Penn
1985 Pale Rider Josh LaHood credited as Christopher Penn
1986 At Close Range Tommy credited as Christopher Penn
1987 Made in U.S.A. Tuck
1989 Return from the River Kwai Lieutenant Crawford credited as Christopher Penn
Best of the Best Travis Brickley credited as Christopher Penn
1991 Mobsters Tommy Reina credited as Christopher Penn
Leather Jackets Big Steve credited as Christopher Penn
Future Kick Bang
1992 Reservoir Dogs Nice Guy Eddie
1993 Best of the Best II Travis Brickley credited as Christopher Penn
The Music of Chance Floyd
The Pickle Gregory Stone
Short Cuts Jerry Kaiser
True Romance Nicky Dimes
Josh and S.A.M. Derek Baxter
Beethoven's 2nd Floyd
1994 Imaginary Crimes Jarvis
1995 Fist of the North Star Jackal
To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar Sheriff Dollard
Under the Hula Moon Turk Dickson
Sacred Cargo Vince Kanevsky
1996 Mulholland Falls Arthur Relyea
The Funeral Chez Nominated – Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
The Boys Club Luke
1997 Deceiver Detective Philip Braxton
1998 Papertrail FBI Agent Jason Enola
One Tough Cop Duke Finnerly
Rush Hour Clive
Family Attraction Father Short film
1999 The Florentine Bobby
2000 Cement Bill Holt
2001 Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) Bubba
Corky Romano Peter Romano
2002 Murder by Numbers Ray
Redemption Tony Leggio Direct-To-Video
Stealing Harvard David Loach
2003 American Pie: Beneath the Crust Vol. 2 Stiffler's Dad Deleted scenes
Masked and Anonymous Crew Guy #2
Shelter Island Sheriff Deluca
2004 Starsky & Hutch Manetti
After the Sunset Rowdy Fan
2006 The Darwin Awards Tom
Juarez: Stages of Fear unknown role Direct-To-Video

also Executive Producer

Holly Freddie
2007 King of Sorrow Detective Enola
2013 Aftermath Tony Bricker filmed in 2006 (posthumous release)

final film role

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1982 Magnum, P.I. Wounded Soldier, in Vietnam Episode: "Heal Thyself"

credited as Christopher Penn

1985 North Beach and Rawhide Dan Donnelly TV Movie
1987 Faerie Tale Theatre Will Tussennbrook Episode: "Rip Van Winkle"

credited as Christopher Penn

1990 The Young Riders Brad Episode: "Matched Pair"
1995 Chicago Hope Kevin Fitzpatrick Episode: "Life Support"
1996 Dead Man's Walk Goodnight Miniseries

Episode: "#1.2"

2002 AFP: American Fighter Pilot Narrator voice role
2003 CSI: Miami Pete Wilton Episode: "Grave Young Men"
The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire Waylon Shaw series regular (6 episodes)
Will & Grace Rudy Episode: "Fanilow"
2005 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Tommy Onerato Episode: "Death Roe"
Everwood Frank Sullivan Episode: "Fate Accomplis"
Entourage Chris Penn (Himself) Episode: "An Offer Refused"

Music videos
Year Title Role Artist
1995 "Somebody's Crying" Beachgoer Chris Isaak
1998 "Can I Get A..." Bartender Jay-Z feat. Ja Rule & Amil

Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Officer Eddie Pulaski voice role

References
  1. "The price of fame: The final reel of Chris Penn". The Independent. Independent News and Media Limited. 26 January 2006. Archived from the original on February 3, 2006. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  2. Hartlaub, Peter (31 January 2006). "Let us praise Chris Penn—in all his guises". SFGate.com. Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  3. Tugend, Tom (March 5, 2004). "Jews Flop in Big Oscar Award Wins". JewishJournal.com. Tribe Media Corp. Archived from the original on 28 April 2005. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  4. Kelly, Richard T. (2004). Sean Penn: His Life and Times. New York: Canongate Books. pp. 9–10. ISBN 1-84195-623-6.
  5. Lookout Staff (25 January 2006). "Actor Chris Penn Found Dead in his Santa Monica Home". Surf Santa Monica. The LookOut News. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  6. Silverman, Stephen M. (14 September 2006). "Sean Penn: Chris's Weight Killed Him". People.com. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  7. "Reservoir Dogs' Penn found dead". BBC News. BBC. 25 January 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  8. 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
  9. "Photographer disrupts Chris Penn funeral". UPI. Culver City, California. 5 February 2006. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
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