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