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Wow! This upsets me because I really liked his work 
He was a chunky fella but I don't see his weight causing his death!
http://www.theage.com.au/news/people...066846150.html
Actor Chris Penn dead
Chris Penn, the younger brother of Academy Award winner Sean Penn, has been found dead.
Photo: AP
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 at his Santa Monica home, officials said today.
Medical examiners today conducted an autopsy on the 40-year-old actor, who was found dead yesterday by a housekeeper, according to Lieutenant Cheryl MacWillie, a watch commander for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Offic
"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.
MacWillie said Penn is believed to have lived alone in the apartment he occupied in the beachfront town west of Los Angeles.
She said there were no signs of foul play or suicide and that further tests were being conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
Santa Monica Police Department spokesman Lt. Frank Fabrega also said the death was not being investigated as a homicide.
A family spokeswoman issued a statement last night saying the Penn family "would appreciate the media's respect of their privacy during this difficult time."
Penn was a character actor who specialised in blue-collar, tough-guy roles and appeared in dozens of films, including Reservoir Dogs, Mulholland Falls and the 2004 film Starsky & Hutch. He also co-starred in the short-lived CBS television drama The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire.
His latest film, The Darwin Awards, was scheduled to premiere on Wednesday at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
In one of Chris Penn's best-known roles, he played baby-faced criminal Nice Guy Eddie Cabot in director Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
He also co-starred with his brother in the 1986 film At Close Range.
In 1996, Chris Penn won the best supporting actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as a Depression-era gangster in The Funeral, co-starring Isabella Rossellini and Christopher Walken.
But his career was largely eclipsed by his older brother Sean, who gained fame for a brief but highly publicised marriage to pop star Madonna and went on to accumulate an acclaimed body of work that included four Oscar-nominated performances.
He won an Academy Award as best actor for the 2003 film Mystic River.
In a 1996 interview with Reuters, Chris Penn said he was "very proud" of his older brother.
Asked whether he got tired of being asked about his better-known sibling, Penn answered: "I get sick of it only if it's mindless, like 'How does it feel to be ...?' But if they say, you know, 'What do you think about how your big brother did this or that?' or 'How do you see yourself in relation ...' Naaaah, he's my brother! I'm very close to him."
Another brother, Michael, is a musician.
- Reuters
He was a chunky fella but I don't see his weight causing his death!
http://www.theage.com.au/news/people...066846150.html
Actor Chris Penn dead
Chris Penn, the younger brother of Academy Award winner Sean Penn, has been found dead.Photo: AP
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 at his Santa Monica home, officials said today.
Medical examiners today conducted an autopsy on the 40-year-old actor, who was found dead yesterday by a housekeeper, according to Lieutenant Cheryl MacWillie, a watch commander for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Offic
"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.
MacWillie said Penn is believed to have lived alone in the apartment he occupied in the beachfront town west of Los Angeles.
She said there were no signs of foul play or suicide and that further tests were being conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
Santa Monica Police Department spokesman Lt. Frank Fabrega also said the death was not being investigated as a homicide.
A family spokeswoman issued a statement last night saying the Penn family "would appreciate the media's respect of their privacy during this difficult time."
Penn was a character actor who specialised in blue-collar, tough-guy roles and appeared in dozens of films, including Reservoir Dogs, Mulholland Falls and the 2004 film Starsky & Hutch. He also co-starred in the short-lived CBS television drama The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire.
His latest film, The Darwin Awards, was scheduled to premiere on Wednesday at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
In one of Chris Penn's best-known roles, he played baby-faced criminal Nice Guy Eddie Cabot in director Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
He also co-starred with his brother in the 1986 film At Close Range.
In 1996, Chris Penn won the best supporting actor award at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as a Depression-era gangster in The Funeral, co-starring Isabella Rossellini and Christopher Walken.
But his career was largely eclipsed by his older brother Sean, who gained fame for a brief but highly publicised marriage to pop star Madonna and went on to accumulate an acclaimed body of work that included four Oscar-nominated performances.
He won an Academy Award as best actor for the 2003 film Mystic River.
In a 1996 interview with Reuters, Chris Penn said he was "very proud" of his older brother.
Asked whether he got tired of being asked about his better-known sibling, Penn answered: "I get sick of it only if it's mindless, like 'How does it feel to be ...?' But if they say, you know, 'What do you think about how your big brother did this or that?' or 'How do you see yourself in relation ...' Naaaah, he's my brother! I'm very close to him."
Another brother, Michael, is a musician.
- Reuters
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