In Remembrance: Chris Penn

     Chris Penn, the character actor who appeared in over 50 films including Footloose (1984) and Reservoir Dogs (1992), has passed away on January 24, 2006 in Santa Monica, CA. He was 40.

     Born on June 10, 1965 in Los Angeles, CA, Penn was son to television director Leo Penn and brother to actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn.

     Penn began acting at the age of 12 at the Loft Studio and trained under acting teacher Peggy Feury. Although his first film appearance was in Charlie And The Talking Buzzard (1979), his first major film role was in 1983’s Rumble Fish. He followed this up with roles in the high school football drama All The Right Moves (1983), Footloose (1984) and the western Pale Rider (1985). In 1986 he appeared with his brother Sean in the film At Close Range.

     In 1992, Penn had a memorable turn as the baby-faced criminal Nice Guy Eddie in director Quentin Tarantino’s heist-gone-wrong film Reservoir Dogs. Other films include True Romance (1993), To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), Mulholland Falls (1996), Rush Hour (1999) and Starsky & Hutch (2004). His final two films, Aftermath and King Of Sorrow, are scheduled for release later this year.