Christopher Shannon Penn (Chris Penn) was an American actor whose sudden death occured on January 24, 2006.
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Penn, a very talented actor, was often cast as a tough character, featured as a villain or a working-class thug, or in a comic role and was known for his roles in such films as;
- Rush Hour,
- Corky Romano,
- True Romance,
- Beethoven’s 2nd,
- Short Cuts,
- The Boys Club,
- All the Right Moves,
- At Close Range,
- Pale Rider,
- Starsky & Hutch,
- The Wild Life,
- Reservoir Dogs,
- The Funeral and
- Footloose.
Penn began acting at the age of 12 at the Loft Studio and made his film debut in 1979’s Charlie and the Talking Buzzard, starring Christopher Hanks.
Four years later, he was featured in Francis Ford Coppola’s youth drama Rumble Fish and appeared in the high school football drama All the Right Moves as the best friend of Tom Cruise’s character.
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- He also appeared in the hit dance movie Footloose in 1984 as the best friend of Kevin Bacon’s character.
- He played a villain in the Clint Eastwood western Pale Rider (1985).
- He also co-starred with his brother Sean Penn and mother Eileen Ryan in At Close Range (1986).

Chris Penn age
Chris Penn died on January 24, 2006, at the age of 40. He was born on October 10, 1965.
Chris Penn height
Chris was of average height. He was 1.78m tall.
Chris Penn parents
Chris’ parents are Leo Penn, an actor and director, and Eileen Ryan (née Annucci), an actress.
His father was born on August 27, 1921 and died on September 5, 1998 at age 88. His mother died on Oct. 9, 2022 at age 94, seven days to her 95th birthday.
Chris Penn siblings
Chris has two siblings; actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn.
Chris Penn cause of death
Sadly, Chris was found dead in his apartment on January 24, 2006, at the age of 40 with an autopsy revealing the primary cause for his death was “nonspecific cardiomyopathy” (heart disease).
Chris Penn wife
Chris never married.
Chris Penn children
Chris didn’t have children.


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