Brad Renfro Dead at 25. Drugs or Murder Not Ruled Out Yet

Brad Renfro, a Hollywood actor best known for his roles in “The Client” and “Ghost World” and for his off-screen history of drug abuse, was found dead this morning, the Los Angeles Police Department said. He was 25.

As of Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Times was reporting that although the cause of Renfro’s death had yet to be determined, there was no suspicion of foul play.

“Brad was a really gifted young man,” his former attorney Blair Berk reportedly said. “It is a tragedy all the way around.”

According to the newspaper, Los Angeles Police Lieutenant David Evans would not comment on rumors of a drug overdose.

In 1995, he won the Hollywood Reporter’s YoungStar award, was nominated as one of People magazine’s “Top 30 Under 30,” and won a Young Artist award for his role in “The Cure.”

Although the only straight forward family flick Renfro made during his adolescent years was the modest Disney success “Tom and Huck,” the actor found himself struggling with teen typecasting as the new millennium dawned. For all intents and purposes, his last mainstream starring role was in “Apt Pupil,” director Bryan Singer’s underperforming Nazi tale best remembered for a lawsuit involving child extras and a shower scene.

One of Renfro’s final acting appearances was in a recent episode of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” He had recently been filming “The Informers,” co-starring Winona Ryder and based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name; how that film will address Renfro’s passing is currently uncertain.

In the weeks to come, further details are expected to be revealed about Renfro’s untimely death. Sadly, what is certain is his inclusion on a list of young Hollywood deaths.