Chris Penn

Biography

Chris Penn was born in Los Angeles, CA. and started acting at an early age of 12 years old under the training of Peggy Feury at the Loft Studio. In 1979 he made his film debut in Charlie and the Talking Buzzard. In 1984 he appeared in the popular dance musical Footloose , played a villain in the Clint Eastwood western Pale Rider (1985), and co-starred with his brother, Sean, and mother Eileen Ryan (who played his grand-mother in the film) in At Close Range in 1986.

Quite often Penn was cast as a supporting actor, featured as a villain, a working-class lug, or played a comic role. Two of his more memorable performances came in Reservoir Dogs and True Romance. In 1996, Chris won the best supporting actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as a gangster in The Funeral which co-starred Isabella Rossellini and Christopher Walken. 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, which Penn's character is obliged to listen to. The dramatic ending of the film features the climactic response of Penn's character to this pent-up sexual frustration and feeling of powerlessness.

During its 2004-2005 season Penn was featured on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. He was also featured on the popular 2004 video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as the voice of Officer Eddie Pulaski and played himself on a 2005 episode of Entourage. He also appeared in The Darwin Awards which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival one day after his death.

On the 24th of January, 2006 Penn's body was found in bed at his Santa Monica home by a housekeeper. Investigators have found no sign of foul play or suicide in the death. It was assummed that it was a natural death, possibly caused by Penn being overweight. At the time of death he weighed over 270 pounds (122.5 kgs). At the time of his death, Penn had two films in post-production (King of Sorrow and Aftermath)