LOS ANGELES – Friends and relatives of actor Chris Penn grappled yesterday with the shocking news of his death, as investigators worked to determine the cause.
“West Wing” star and close family friend Martin Sheen comforted the 40-year-old actor’s mother, Eileen Ryan, after visiting the Santa Monica apartment, where Chris, younger brother of Sean Penn, was found dead on Tuesday.
Actress Lori Singer, who co-starred with Penn in the 1980s classic “Footloose” as well as other films, said she was “devastated.” “He had the understated brilliance of a true artist. He was real in person and in his acting. He was the real thing,” Singer said. “Absolutely, he was the real deal. He brought a truth to his work that was as unique and singular [as that] of any of the young actors [who are] his contemporaries – whether related or unrelated.”
A housekeeper found Penn dead in his bed.
There was no “obvious evidence of foul play,” said Santa Monica police Lt. Frank Fabrega. “There was no break-in or forced entry.”
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office performed an autopsy yesterday. Results were not immediately made public.
In the past few years, Chris Penn had gained considerable weight, and most recently appeared in “Starsky and Hutch,” and last year’s “Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang.”
His newest film, “The Darwin Awards” – starring Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder – premiered last night at the Sundance Film Festival.
The title is a reference to a Web site that celebrates people who remove themselves from the gene pool by accidentally dying in bone-headed ways, and the film depicts the work of insurance investigators examining such deaths. Penn appears in a scene in which he is killed after driving his car onto extremely thin ice.
Sean Penn, 45, went into seclusion after his publicist issued a statement asking for people to respect the family’s “privacy at this difficult time.”
Chris never approached his brother’s level of fame. But Singer, who appeared with Sean in “The Falcon and the Snowman,” said the intense older actor had deep respect for his brother’s work, and they never had a rivalry.
Born in 1965, Chris Penn was the youngest son of actress Ryan and director Leo Penn. His oldest brother, Michael, is a musician who penned the 1980s hit “No Myth” and is married to singer Aimee Mann.
Chris Penn, best known for his roles as “Nice Guy” Eddie in 1992’s “Reservoir Dogs” and as the awkward teen whom Kevin Bacon teaches to dance in “Footloose,” had become a solid journeyman actor in recent years.