Lee Thompson Young, an actor who played a child star on the Disney Channel show “The Famous Jett Jackson” and a detective on the hit TNT series “Rizzoli & Isles,” was found dead on Monday at his home in Los Angeles after he failed to show up for work. He was 29. The cause was suicide, a statement from his manager said. Mr. Young had appeared on “Rizzoli & Isles,” a police procedural set in Boston and based on novels by Tess Gerritsen, since its debut in 2010. He played Barry Frost, a computer-savvy homicide detective who can’t stand the sight of blood, who is the partner of Jane Rizzoli, played by Angie Harmon. TNT announced on Monday that “Rizzoli & Isles” had been renewed for another season. Mr. Young’s first major role came in 1998, when he played the title character on “The Famous Jett Jackson.” The show followed the child star of an action show who decides to move production back to suburban North Carolina from Hollywood so he can resume life with his family. “ ‘The Famous Jett Jackson’ makes instructive drama out of the sentimental truism that family and friends trump fame and wealth,” Marc Weingarten wrote in an article about diversity on television in The New York Times. “But Jett, a hip-hop-loving kid played with guileless charm by Lee Thompson Young, is never sitcom-bland.” Mr. Young, who grew up in South Carolina, said he sympathized with the character. “I get out of L.A. as often as I can,” he said. Lee Thompson Young was born on Feb. 1, 1984, in Columbia, S.C. He played the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a school production when he was 10. Two years later he accompanied his mother to New York so she could attend Union Theological Seminary, and once there he found an agent. He earned a film production degree from the University of Southern California long after he began acting professionally. Mr. Young had recurring roles on the NBC comedy “Scrubs” and the WB superhero drama “Smallville.” He also acted in films, appearing alongside Billy Bob Thornton in the high school football drama “Friday Night Lights” (2004) and with Laurence Fishburne in “Akeelah and the Bee” (2006). Survivors include his mother and a sister. Share Save
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 05:31:34 +0000
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