Chris Penn Net Worth

What is Chris Penn's Net Worth?

Chris Penn was an American actor who had a net worth of $2.5 million at the time of his death in 2006. Chris Penn was the younger brother of actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn. He often played tough, working-class characters, appearing in such films as "Footloose," "Reservoir Dogs," "True Romance," and "The Funeral," the lattermost of which earned him the Volpi Cup for Best Supporting Actor at the Venice Film Festival. Penn also appeared on some television shows, and voiced corrupt cop Eddie Pulaski in the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." Chris Penn passed away on January 24, 2006 at 40 years old from a nonspecific cardiomyopathy.

Early Life

Chris Penn was born on October 10, 1965 in Los Angeles, California to actress Eileen Ryan and actor and director Leo Penn. His older brothers are actor Sean and musician Michael. Penn was of Jewish Lithuanian and Russian descent on his father's side, and of Catholic Italian and Irish descent on his mother's side.

Film Career

Penn began his film career in 1979 with a role in "Charlie and the Talking Buzzard." He next appeared in two 1983 teen dramas: "Rumble Fish," in which he played B.J. Jackson, and "All the Right Moves," in which he played the best friend of Tom Cruise's main character. Penn played the best friend of another main character, this time Kevin Bacon's, in the 1984 teen musical drama "Footloose." That same year, he starred as a high school wrestler in the coming-of-age film "The Wild Life." Penn went on to play the villainous Josh LaHood in Clint Eastwood's 1985 Western "Pale Rider." The year after that, he appeared alongside his brother Sean and mother Eileen in the crime drama "At Close Range." Over the remainder of the decade, Penn starred in "Made in U.S.A.," "Return from the River Kwai," and "Best of the Best."

Penn's first film credits in the 1990s included "Mobsters," "Leather Jackets," and "Reservoir Dogs." He went on to appear in a whopping seven films in 1993, including Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" and Tony Scott's "True Romance." Penn subsequently appeared in such films as "Imaginary Crimes," "Fist of the North Star," and "Under the Hula Moon." He had another big year in 1996, with roles in "Mulholland Falls," "The Boys Club," and "The Funeral." For his performance as gangster Chez Tempio in the lattermost film, Penn won the prestigious Volpi Cup for Best Supporting Actor at the Venice Film Festival. Next, he starred in the mystery film "Deceiver." Penn rounded out the decade with roles in "One Tough Cop," "Rush Hour," and "The Florentine."

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Penn commenced the new millennium with a starring role as a Los Angeles detective in the crime thriller "Cement," the directorial debut of actor Adrian Pasdar. He followed that with starring roles in the British comedy "Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)" and the mafia comedy "Corky Romano." In 2002, Penn appeared in the psychological thriller "Murder by Numbers," starring Sandra Bullock, and the action comedy "Stealing Harvard," starring Jason Lee and Tom Green. He was also in the direct-to-video release "Redemption." Penn subsequently had a small part in Larry Charles's "Masked and Anonymous."

In 2004, Penn played a police officer in Todd Phillips's big-screen adaptation of the classic television series "Starsky & Hutch," starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. The same year, he had a brief role in the action comedy "After the Sunset," starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, and Woody Harrelson. In 2006, Penn starred alongside Ron Livingston and Thuy Nguyen in the drama "Holly," and had a supporting role in the adventure comedy "The Darwin Awards." The latter was the actor's final appearance before his death; he appeared posthumously in the 2013 film "Aftermath."

Television Career

In addition to his work on film, Penn made some appearances on television. In the 1980s, he appeared in episodes of "Magnum, P.I." and "Faerie Tale Theatre," and was in the television film "North Beach and Rawhide." The next decade, Penn was in episodes of "Chicago Hope" and the miniseries "Dead Man's Walk." He had his first and only main role on a regular series in 2003, when he played Waylon Shaw on the short-lived CBS drama "The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire." Also that year, Penn made guest appearances on "CSI: Miami" and "Will & Grace." In 2005, he appeared in episodes of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Everwood," and "Entourage." Penn had his final role on television in the 2007 Canadian TV movie "King of Sorrow."

Personal Life and Death

Penn never married. From 1993 to 1999, he dated Steffiana De La Cruz, and from 2002 until his passing in 2006 dated Cristina Goldberg.

Penn passed away in early 2006 at his apartment in Santa Monica, California. He was 40 years of age. The primary cause of death was heart disease, with other possible factors including use of the drugs promethazine, Valium, morphine, and codeine. Penn is interred in Culver City.