Investigators probe death of actor Chris Penn

[leQ]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Investigators have found no sign of foul play or suicide in the death of actor Christopher Penn, Oscar-winner Sean Penn's younger brother, whose body was found on Tuesday at his Santa Monica home, officials said on Wednesday.

Medical examiners on Wednesday conducted an autopsy on the 40-year-old actor, who was found dead by a housekeeper, according to Lt. Cheryl MacWillie, a watch commander for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.

"It appears to be a natural death," MacWillie said. "He died in bed." Examiners were trying to determine if weight was an issue because Penn weighed over 270 pounds (122.5 kg), she said.

http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2006-01-25T214215Z_01_N24223443_RTRUKOC_0_US-PENN.xml

wow

[jackstraw45]

1. Heart attack maybe?

RIP

[Hobarticus]

2. "Quit pointing that gun at my dad!" – Reservoir Dogs

RIP, Chris.

[tcfrogs]

3. A very sad death

And sort of off-topic, the original story I read yesterday (DU's thread is here)..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x4643751

..had him listed as age 43. Weird that the fact checkers didn't get it right. You know, with the internets & all.

On edit - NOT the DU fact checkers :), from the MSNBC story.

[Up2Late]

6. He was 40, the AP report says "...several celebrity Web sites..."

"...list his age as 43...."

Here's the best (and one of the oldest) websites for Movie and Television info on the web: <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001606/>

Very sad, he was an excellent actor.

[psychopomp]

12. His acting was wasted on projects like

"Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang." Who put him up to that one?

RIP Mr. Penn

[MnFats]

15. he was pretty good in 'True Romance..' but..

...it wasn't a very big role. There were a lot of good actors in that one...walken, dennis hopper, James gandolfini...

[AlCzervik]

4. He was on Law & Order criminal intent not too long ago and he looked

pretty bad, yes he looked heavy but it was more than that, his face was very puffy, like sick puffy.

[Critters2]

13. That's right

I saw that, and sort of did a double take when I realized it was him. He looked really aged and heavy.
He was great in "Reservoir Dogs"!

[davepc]

30. alcohol

[Algorem]

5. said on radio his film "The Darwin Award" was to open at Cannes today,

I think.No,it was "The Darwin Awards",at Sundance.

[brentspeak]

7. A "natural" death that's really unnatural

40-year-olds don't die naturally of heart attacks. Chris Penn apparently let his body go to pot, drinking heavily, not minding his weight, etc. A real shame.

[Hekate]

16. It happens. Not everyone has the same genetic gifts; nor is...

...everything under one's personal control. You need to read more obits (and if you don't now, I guarantee that you will in 20 years). The most common first warning signal for heart attack is sudden death.

Sure he upped his risk with lifestyle factors, but if every overweight 40 year old in America got a heart attack (and most of them don't), this country would just about empty out, wouldn't it?

Hekate

[Susang]

26. This 40 year old did

On January 9th.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/chi-0601090085jan09,1,2048769.story?coll=chi-newsobituaries-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0958570/

[Angry Girl]

8. Payback for Sean's public anti-Bush statements?

Stranger things have happened.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x226695

[pinerow]

9. that's pretty paranoid...

:tinfoilhat:

[Angry Girl]

10. I would have said that about Bush illegally wiretapping Americans too

And the Bush administration trying to hide the documents that show they were warned about 9/11
And Bush trying to squelch all the whistleblowers
And Bush and the rightwingers stealing the 2000 and 2004 elections
And....

Well, you get the picture.

[Up2Late]

14. She could be right, the BFEE has had an awful lot of "suicides" and...

...conviniant accidents happen at very fortunate times, but I doubt this one was BFEE related.

Hey, remember that woman that filed the court papers in Texas alleging * raped her? She's dead too. Single bullet to the brain. "Suicide."

<http://www.thoughtcrimenews.com/bushrape.htm>

<http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/11257_scandal.html>

<http://www.georgewalkerbush.net/thestrangedeathofthewomanwhofiledarapelawsuitagainstbush.htm>

[patcox2]

18. It all fits together, the chemtrails are to distract us from the murders.

While everyone is looking up at the chemtrails, Bush's ninja assasins can fake-suicide-murder the brothers of actors who criticize him.

Can't you see it? You must be one of them.

[ronnykmarshall]

22. Just a bit, huh?

[Not_So_Right_Wing]

17. Payback...

for being overweight and in bad health. This isn't like David Rosenbaum...who was obviously whack by the Bushies.
I'm sure Sean Penn isn't even on the first 100 pages of the chimp's enemies list.

[Angry Girl]

20. Most likely, yes

But while the retribution theory is unlikely, it doesn't sound quite as improbable as it might have before the Reign of Bush.

[Not_So_Right_Wing]

29. Agreed.

Seems like anything is possible these days.

[henslee]

24. Be a nice girl and share your drugs.

[HEyHEY]

25. Is hard to type with the straight jacket on?

[RandomKoolzip]

27. Yeah, and we all know how influential Sean Penn was on

American opinion. :eyes:

Shit, Americans don't even watch the fucking guy's MOVIES, let alone listen to his opinions on foreign policy. Sean made a laughingstock of himself when he tried to become more than a very good actor. Even the "South Park" guys, who I rarely agree with, recognized a clown when they saw him popping up on cable news shows.

Paranoia, big destroya....

[onenote]

31. yeah, against his will they stuffed his face with pizza and beer

and forced him to snort coke and do a lot of other shit.

And what do you think happened to Vince Foster?

onenote

[Algorem]

11. Has anyone heard from Emilio Estevez lately?

Jim Hanks?

[patcox2]

19. The BFEE must have murdered Emilio's career!

He's still alive, but his career is dead.

[suston96]

21. Emilio?

Look here.

[ronnykmarshall]

23. River Phoenix??

Oh wait he's dead!!

OH MY GAWD!!! It's true!! Bush killed him!!!

[Barrett808]

28. "You eat a lot of acid, Miller, back in the hippie days?" n/t

[Skittles]

32. my condolences to Sean and Michael and their mom

it is very, very tough to lose a sibling, a son.