Brad Barron Renfro
"Fuck All Ya’ll"

There are people who are upset because Brad didn’t get a nod in the 2008 Oscars ceremony obituary segment. True: He was an actor and was in 21 films.  …He did work with Oscar winners. Um ...  annnnd… that’d be about it.  If it is any consolation, Yvonne DeCarlo missed the cut last year.  You can read about Brad's acting career here.

I have no doubt he was a very nice kid.  Most people who knew him thought so.

Shortly before his death, Brad had the phrase,  "FUCK ALL YA’LL" tattooed on his upper back. Clearly Brad didn't think he'd live to a ripe old age.  Clearly.  Had he been thinking of the future, he might have considered one day being in a nursing home and needing some maintenance back there. The nurse might just read that, interpret the message, and let him sit in it. I would.

That being said, according to a pal of Brad’s, Renfro was a death hag, and read findadeath.com on a regular basis. He even told his friend that one day he would probably end up on it. Guess what? Welcome to the fold, 'Fro.

According to his friends, for a couple of years before his death, Brad was spiraling out of control. He had been arrested in a highly publicized heroin sting in downtown LA.  He got wasted, hotwired a yacht and gunned it not realizing it was still tied to the dock.  His drug use was out of control.

By 2007, he was trying to beat drugs and booze. He moved in with his girlfriend and her cousin in this really awesome looking building in the Wilshire district. Brad was considering leaving acting and going into a more “mainstream” career, and spending time with his son. He had recently spent the holidays with his family back in Tennessee, which apparently went well. I’ll bet they are grateful for that time.

Back in Los Angeles, on the night of Monday, January 14th, 2008, Brad was drinking heavily, and made a comment that he had taken Vicodin or possibly Xanax. They went to sleep about 2am. On the morning of January 15th, Brad’s girlfriend left around 9, hearing Brad snoring. The cousin must have found him lying unresponsive on the bedroom floor. She dialed 911 and made this call at 10:52 a.m.

Paramedics arrived and pronounced him dead at 11:04 a.m. They found an open bottle of bleach in the (neat and well-furnished) apartment, which led them to consider a drug-related death.  (Bleach is used for cleaning needles.) It wasn’t until the autopsy results were released, that it was confirmed. Brad had died of acute heroin/morphine intoxication.

He was only 25 years old. 

When the news hit, the nice folks at E! spelled his name wrong.

On the 21st of January, a memorial was held for Brad in his hometown, Knoxville. There was a closed casket funeral the next day, and a graveside service at the Red House Cemetery in Blaine, TN.  A findadeath friend was there, and I hope to get a more detailed report soon.

Meet other Brad Renfro fans here, and please ask them to use spell check when they send me hate mail after reading this.

Thanks C. and Harry


www.findadeath.com