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  • 14 Actors You May Not Know Are Dead

  • When we watch celebrities at the movies or on TV, we develop special bonds with them.

  • So when they're gone too soon, it can be devastatingespecially when we don't realize we've lost them. You

  • may not know some of these actors by name, but you certainly know their faces. Some of

  • your favorite movies or shows feature actors that have been taken from the world well before

  • their time.

  • Lee Thompson Young

  • The Famous Jett Jackson, Lee Thompson Young's star vehicle, was a very popular show on The

  • Disney Channel for some time. Friday Night Lights, Akeelah and the Bee, and The Hills

  • Have Eyes II are some of the few films on Young's impressive resume. But while working

  • as a series regular on Rizzoli and Isles, he was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. Sadly,

  • on August 19, 2013, his life came to a tragic end after he committed suicide with a self-inflicted

  • gunshot wound.

  • Brittany Murphy

  • After rising to fame in 1995's cult classic Clueless with the famous line "You're a virgin

  • who can't drive," Brittany Murphy offered strong performances in Girl Interrupted, Drop

  • Dead Gorgeous, 8 Mile, and Sin City, and had a regular role on the hit animated show King

  • of the Hill. Murphy was the breadwinner of the family, as she cared for her mother, a

  • breast-cancer survivor, and her husband, Simon Monjack, who suffered from frequent seizures

  • and heart troubles. In a surprising turn of events that shocked the world, Murphy was

  • declared dead on December 20, 2009, due to pneumonia, anemia, and multiple drug intoxication.

  • It's unclear whether toxic mold also played a part in her untimely death at age 32, as

  • her husband was found dead in the same house five months later.

  • Heather O'Rourke

  • Best known for playing Carol Anne from the movie Poltergeist, Heather O'Rourke was the

  • sweet young girl that terrified audiences after being sucked into the television set.

  • She was also one of a very small number of original cast members that remained with the

  • movie series until Poltergeist 3. If you've seen the final movie, you will notice Heather's

  • cheeks are very puffy — a reaction to the medication she was taking for Crohn's disease,

  • with which she was misdiagnosed. Tragedy struck when Heather suffered from cardiac arrest

  • in February 1988 while undergoing a surgery for a bowel obstruction at the tender age

  • of 12.

  • Dominique Dunne

  • Sadly, this is another actress from the 1982 film Poltergeist. Many say the film was cursed,

  • as this young actress from the film also met an early demise. Dominique was born into a

  • life of privilege in Santa Monica to a ranching heiress and TV writer and producer Dominick

  • Dunne. Dominique made appearances in the TV shows Chips, Fame, and The Quest. But the

  • same year Poltergeist was released, her deranged ex-boyfriend, John Thomas Sweeney, murdered

  • her in her own driveway in West Hollywood on November 4, 1982.

  • Brad Renfro

  • Skyrocketing to fame at age 11, Brad Renfro made a huge impression on audiences after

  • starring in Joel Schumacher's adaptation of The Client by John Grisham. High profile roles

  • followed, and he made appearances in Sleepers opposite Brad Pitt, Ghost World alongside

  • Scarlett Johansson, and The Informers starring Kim Basinger. Renfro fulfilled the sad destiny

  • of many child actors, plunging into a life of illegal drug use and trouble with the law.

  • After trying to buy drugs from an undercover LA police officer in 2006, Renfro plead no

  • contest to attempted possession of heroin and spent ten days in jail. On January 15,

  • 2008, at 25 years old, Brad Renfro was found dead of an accidental heroin and morphine

  • overdose.

  • Jonathan Brandis

  • With a resume as long as your arm, Jonathan Brandis showed up in Who's the Boss?, Blossom,

  • L.A. Law, Full House, The Wonder Years, and Murder, She Wrote, among tons of others. As

  • a child and teenage star for many years, it seemed like he had no shortage of work. He

  • was 16 when he made Ladybugs, and 17 when he was cast as a teen genius in Steven Spielberg's

  • SeaQuest 2032. When SeaQuest was canceled in 1996, however, the once-plentiful casting

  • offers dried up. Depression soon plagued the young star. He died after sustaining injuries

  • from an attempted suicide via hanging at the age of 27 in Danbury, Connecticut.

  • Dana Plato

  • Playing Kimberly Drummond in the television series Diff'rent Strokes, Dana Plato was catapulted

  • to instant stardom alongside Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges. To cope with the mounting

  • pressures of fame, she often indulged in cocaine and marijuana off-set. Once she became pregnant,

  • however, the network released her from her contract and she began a downward spiral of

  • drugs and alcohol that included work in adult films and a spread in Playboy magazine. Dana

  • moved to Las Vegas where, desperate for cash, she robbed a store for less than $200 and

  • was bonded out of jail by Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton. She died at the age of 35 on

  • May 8, 1999, in her RV in Oklahoma after taking a fatal dose of lortab and valium.

  • Lisa Robin Kelly

  • Kelly made audiences laugh as part of the ensemble cast of That '70s Show, but her real

  • life wasn't funny at all. After a lengthy battle with drug and alcohol addiction that

  • ultimately caused her to lose her job on the show, Kelly checked into rehab in August 2013,

  • only to pass away in her sleep due to complications from an accidental overdose. She was only

  • 43.

  • Thuy Trang

  • Best known for her work as the original Yellow Ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Thuy

  • Trang was developing what seemed like a potentially promising career after leaving the show in

  • 1994, landing roles in Spy Hard and The Crow: City of Angels. Sadly, she never had a chance

  • to fulfill that potentialshe was killed in a car accident in 2001, at the age of 27.

  • Michael Clarke Duncan

  • Duncan's towering physique made him a natural for "big guy" roles, but he really had dramatic

  • chopsand unlike a lot of actors booked for that type of part, he got a chance to

  • show them. His too-brief filmography includes memorable supporting turns in Armageddon and

  • Daredevil, as well as a beautifully sensitive starring performance in the big-screen adaptation

  • of Stephen King's The Green Mile. Duncan should have had a much longer career, but he was

  • felled by a heart attack in 2012 at the age of 54.

  • Harold Ramis

  • Known best for playing the role of Egon in Ghostbusters, Harold Ramis brought his screenwriting

  • and directing talents to a slew of some of Hollywood's best-loved films, including Caddyshack,

  • Animal House, and Groundhog Day, just to name a few. Ramis was 70 when he passed away from

  • an autoimmune disease in 2014. Though he enjoyed a long and productive career, fans the world

  • over know he was still taken far too soon.

  • Andy Hallett

  • A Buffyverse fan favorite for his work as the demon Lorne in the spinoff series Angel,

  • Andy Hallett seemed to be on the verge of a fruitful career in Hollywood. Unfortunately,

  • he passed away at the age of 33 in 2009, the victim of congestive heart failure.

  • Taylor Negron

  • One of Hollywood's all-time ultimate "That Guy" actors, Negron compiled an impressive

  • list of memorable credits without ever becoming a household name in his own right. Although

  • he tended to be on screen for no more than a few moments at a time, Negron's deadpan

  • delivery made him a standout in pictures like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Better Off

  • Dead, as well as TV shows like Seinfeld and Friends. He was only 57 when he died in early

  • 2015, a victim of liver cancer.

  • "Rowdy" Roddy Piper After making a name for himself as a professional

  • wrestler, Piper branched out onto the big screen, where he starred in the 1988 cult

  • classic They Live. He's the one who coined the catchphrase, "I have come here to chew

  • bubble gum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubble gum." That set the tone for a busy

  • Hollywood career full of B-movie roles and small, but unforgettable appearances on shows

  • like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He died in his sleep in 2015 after suffering

  • a pulmonary embolism that triggered a heart attack at the age of 61.

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  • just saw. And leave us a comment to tell us your favorite memories of celebs who left

  • us too soon.

14 Actors You May Not Know Are Dead

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