US actor Brad Renfro has been found dead in his home on wednesday 18-01-08. He was 25.
Renfro, who won acclaim for his childhood role in The Client, had struggled with drugs and alcohol for several years.
The
cause of death was not immediately determined, but a post-mortem
examination could be conducted on Wednesday, chief investigator for the
Los Angeles County coroner’s office Craig Harvey said.
Renfro reportedly had been drinking with friends the evening before his death, Mr Harvey said.
Renfro’s lawyer, Richard Kaplan, said he did not know whether the death was connected to any problems with addiction.
“He was working hard on his sobriety,” Mr Kaplan said. “He was doing well. He was a nice person.”
Renfro’s
film career began when he was 12, acting opposite Susan Sarandon and
Tommy Lee Jones in The Client. His other credits included Sleepers,
Deuces Wild, Apt Pupil and The Jacket. Renfro recently completed a role
in The Informers, a film adaptation of a Bret Easton Ellis novel that
stars Winona Ryder, Brandon Routh and Billy Bob Thornton.
For
several years, Renfro was better known for his legal troubles than for
his acting. The actor served 10 days in jail in May 2006 after pleading
no contest to driving while intoxicated and guilty to attempted
possession of heroin.
The latter charge was related to his arrest
in Los Angeles’ Skid Row area, when he tried to buy heroin from an
undercover officer in 2005.
Other run-ins with the law included a
1998 charge of cocaine and marijuana possession, for which he avoided
jail time in a plea deal. He was also placed on probation in January
2001 and ordered to pay 4,000 dollars for repairs to a 45-foot
(13.7-metre) yacht he and a friend tried to steal in Florida. He was
ordered into an alcohol rehabilitation programme in March 2002 for
violating his probation in the case.