Actor Brad Renfro Dead At 25
Jan 15, 2008
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Jan 15, 2008 22:22 PM
LOS ANGELES, Calif. --
Actor Brad Renfro is dead, the Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed to Access Hollywood.
Renfro's body was discovered at his home in the Wilshire area of Los Angeles, by his girlfriend, authorities told the LA Times.
He was declared dead at 9 AM, a coroner’s spokesperson told the paper.
Craig Harvey, chief investigator for the LA County Coroner told People, the actor was drinking the night before he died. He was also heard snoring in the hours before his death.
Drug overdose is a "possibility considering his history, but right now all we have is the history of his drinking the previous night," Harvey told the magazine. "All that we have is that he was last known to be alive during the morning hours and he was snoring."
Renfro was 25 years old.
Renfro got his first big break in acting when he was discovered by director Joel Schumacher, who cast the then 10-year-old in “The Client.”
The breakout 1994 role pitted the young actor on screen with Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones.
He quickly graduated to tween movies like 1995’s “Tom And Huck,” opposite Jonathan Taylor-Thomas before moving on to indie dramas including 2001’s “Ghost World” opposite Scarlett Johansson, Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi.
Despite his success, Renfro was drawn to the dark side.
The talented actor found himself in frequent trouble with the law beginning in the late ‘90s in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee.
In 1998 he was charged with cocaine and marijuana possession but managed to skip out on jail time by making a plea deal.
Three years later, Renfro made headlines again, this time in Florida, when he was charged with trying to steal a yacht in Fort Lauderdale.
In December 2005, a handcuffed Renfro was splashed across the LA Times when he was arrested after attempting to buy heroin from undercover officers conducting a sting operation on Skid Row in downtown LA.
Renfro seemed to be getting back on track — he started a band — FROAD, and got back into the movies.
Just last fall, the actor was filming a part in “The Informers” alongside Billy Bob Thorton and Wynona Ryder.
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