Bradley Barron Renfro
,
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Birthday
1982-07-25
Occupation
Actor
Spouse(s)
Years Active
1994–2008
Biography
Bradley Barron Renfro (July 25, 1982 – January 15, 2008) was an American actor. He made his film debut in 1994 in the lead role of The Client. He acted in 21 films, several short films, and two television episodes ("Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Recess") during his career. Much of his later career was marred by a pattern of substance abuse. He died January 15, 2008 from a heroin overdose.
Renfro was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was the son of Angela and Mark Renfro, who was a factory worker. He was raised from the age of five by his paternal grandmother, Joanne Barron Renfro, a church secretary.
When he was ten, Renfro was discovered by Mali Finn, a casting director for Joel Schumacher. Cast by Finn as the lead in Schumacher's The Client, Renfro starred alongside Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. Based on the bestselling John Grisham novel, it became one of the top-grossing films of 1994. In 1995, he won Hollywood Reporter's "Young Star" award, and was nominated as one of People's "Top 30 Under 30." That year, he played Huckleberry "Huck" Finn in 1995's Tom and Huck with Jonathan Taylor Thomas. He also won a second "Young Star" award, as well as the "Young Artist" award, for his performance in The Cure.
In 1996, Renfro was cast in Sleepers, based on the novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra. The film was directed by Barry Levinson and co-starred Robert De Niro, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffman and Brad Pitt.
In 1998, he starred opposite Ian McKellen in Apt Pupil, directed by Bryan Singer. That same year, he played Leon S. Kennedy in a live-action preview of Resident Evil 2. Renfro went on to act in other films, including 2001's Ghost World and Bully, 2002's Confessions of an American Girl, and 2005's The Jacket. He also appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and completed filming on the film The Informers, co-starring Mickey Rourke, Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton.
Renfro was the cousin of Jesse Hasek, lead singer of the band 10 Years, and featured in the first version of the music video for their song "Wasteland".
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