Death of a Journeyman

Chris Penn
1965 - 2006

1/25/2006

From the Guardian Unlimited:

Actor Chris Penn, younger brother of Sean and best remembered as Nice Guy Eddie Cabot in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, was found dead at his Santa Monica home yesterday. He was 40, according to police, although most reports put his age as 43.
Penn's body was discovered in bed inside his apartment, located in a four-story condominium complex near the beach, by his housekeeper. Police said they were investigating the cause of death but stated that there were no obvious signs of foul play.

I was shocked when I found this out this morning and I have been thinking about it all day. I don’t know why it affected me so much. Maybe it was because I thought he was a pretty good actor. Maybe it was because he had an “everyman” quality to him and although he had somewhat of a celebrity status and probably made decent money, you could picture him sitting at the end of the bar, drinking a Rolling Rock while arguing the fates of whatever local sports team is playing that night. Or maybe it was because he was thoroughly out of shape, living an unhealthy lifestyle and only 40, a state of existence that might be hitting too close to home, so to speak.

After all, for whom the bell tolls, anyway?

But enough of my maudlin musings, the purpose of this post is to point out something that occurred to me when I thinking about Penn’s career. One of his last performances (I guess) was a prominent guest spot on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He played a murderous chef on an episode entitled “Death Roe” which originally aired on 3/13/2005. 10 months later he is found dead in his apartment.

Rocket Man
1949 - 2005

Not that long ago, Charlie Rocket, most known as the guy who was fired from Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s for saying the word “fuck” on live network television, also recently had a prominent guest spot on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He played a suicidal murderer on an episode called “Pas De Deux” which aired 2/15/2004.



A little over a year later, he was also found dead at his home, an apparent suicide at the age of 56.

I am not superstitious but that coincidence is rather creepy. Can Criminal Intent be considered some kind of end of the line for actors who at one time had some sort of success/fame? Is this show become the new Millennium’s “Love Boat,” a show that had guest actors who Sonny Bono (a frequent guest star himself who also died too young) aptly described as, “either on their way up or on their way down”? Even the show’s own star Vincent D’Onofrio, another successful character actor with a twenty year career under his belt who is now, more and more, being referred to as the “Law and Order Guy,” has wanted off for several years now.

Maybe he knows something that we don’t.

Larry B

Over There

1/11/2006

Here is the opening paragraph from a USO solicitation for donations I received addressed to my dead mother the other day:

Freedom isn't free; it has to be paid for, over and over again. Know one knows this better than the young Americans now fighting terror and tyranny - in dusty deserts, on frozen mountainsides, and in dangerous places all over the world. These brave men and women put their lives on the line for us, every day of the year.

Can you imagine how we would view such ridiculous hyperbole if it was a letter from the Italian government? The former Soviet Union? Cuba?

I am not mentioning the above countries flippantly. All of them, in their own words, have sent their armies “overseas to fight tyranny.” Each time they did, (Italy to Ethiopia, Soviet Union to Afghanistan, Cuba to Angola…sounds like a Risk game!!!) the majority of the “free world,” with the United States leading the charge, denounced them as “belligerent” “aggressive” and “unjustified.” In fact we were so offended by these country’s obvious imperial ambitions that we fought wars, both hot and cold, against them to prevent their further expansion.

The letter continues that the USO provides crucial services to the 200,000 troops overseas. I support the USO but this letter has led me to wonder, why do we have so many troops overseas?

The answer, you might say, is the war in Iraq. Obviously when you try to prosecute a war, no matter how ineptly, you will require manpower. But that doesn’t explain the outrageous number of bases and troop deployments we have all over the world. These bases have been in existence for all of my lifetime. Even the USO letter states that they, “…have mounted 42 entertainment tours to 22 countries in the past 12 months.” Why are our troops in 22 countries? Are all of them “fighting for freedom?”

Why do we just accept that it is our God given right to have military bases, weapons and troops whenever and wherever the hell we want? Why do we assume our motives are benign? And when another nation dares to exercise their democratic sovreignty, the thing that we supposedly cherish the most, we ridicule and belittle making me wonder if we really believe in the things we supposedly believe in. (Freedom Fries anybody?)

Again, I suggest that you think of the same situation except instead of the apple pie loving United States on top it is the government of China pulling the strings.

Doesn’t sound too cool or justified does it?

I know freedom isn’t free…
the last five years of this administration has proved that.
Larry