> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Actor Chris Penn dies at SM home - URL: https://www.smdp.com/actor-chris-penn-dies-at-sm-home/ - Published: 2006-01-25T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T17:05:03.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Cause of Penn’s death undetermined* OCEAN AVENUE — Actor Chris Penn, 40, died at his oceanside condominium here Tuesday. Santa Monica Police responded to 1033 Ocean Ave. at 4:02 p.m. and, upon entering Penn’s condo, found him dead in his bed. Penn’s body was found inside the four-story condominium complex by a housekeeper. Preliminary investigation revealed no obvious signs of foul play, and the cause of death will be determined by an autopsy conducted by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, said SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega. Just as the sun was setting, several neighbors gathered in front of Penn’s building in response to police cars parked in front. Prior to news of his death being PENN, from page 1 confirmed, many of them suspected that their neighbor Penn had died and weren’t surprised once the news was released. “I just knew it,” said one neighbor, who declined to give her name. “I had a feeling.” Many neighbors said they had been watching Penn’s health decline for several months. “There was a lot of erratic behavior, and I would see him in the middle of the day totally wasted,” said a neighbor, who only identified himself as Mike. “He’d get pretty amped up.” The neighbor added that Penn, the younger brother of actor Sean Penn, had gained a lot of weight and was barely recognizable. “I never saw him healthy,” said a neighbor who lives next door. “You knew he was hurting.” An employee at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel, located just a block away from Penn’s oceanview condo, said he saw Penn frequently at the hotel in the morning drinking. Another passerby who heard the news said he was shocked and saddened by Penn’s death. “That sucks, he was fun to watch,” he said. At about 6:30 p.m., Penn’s mother, Eileen Ryan, pulled up in front of the building. As she walked to the front door, she covered her face as paparazzi snapped photos of her. An unidentified friend of Penn’s immediately came to her aid and pushed a cameraman away, knocking his equipment to the ground. “You don’t stick cameras in a woman’s face whose child just died,” Penn’s friend said. “You’re a f--ker.” Sean Penn’s publicist, Mara Buxbaum, issued a statement saying that “the Penn family would appreciate the media’s respect of their privacy during this difficult time.” For more than an hour, Ryan and Penn’s friends and family were seen sitting in the building’s lobby as onlookers and the media watched from the sidewalk. Ryan finally moved to a location where she couldn’t been seen. Later the complex’s glass doors were shielded with papers that had been taped up. Sean Penn was not seen at the building on Tuesday night, nor was his other brother, Michael Penn, a musician. Shortly before 8:30 p.m., the coroner removed Penn’s body through the building’s back door in the alley between California and Idaho avenues. Born on June 10, 1962, Penn began acting at 12 years old, according to Wikipedia. In 1983, he made his feature film debut in Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish. He also had a small role in the high school football drama All The Right Moves, starring Tom Cruise. Penn appeared in the hit dance musical Footloose in 1984 and played a villain in the Clint Eastwood western Pale Rider in 1985\. In 1986, Penn costarred with Sean Penn and Ryan in At Close Range, according to Wikipedia. Penn had starred in several other films, including the role of Nice Guy Eddie Cabot in the 1992 Quentin Tarantino crime drama “Reservoir Dogs,” and roles in True Romance, Starsky & Hutch and After the Sunset. Penn also was featured on the 2004 video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, as the voice of officer Eddie Pulaski, according to Wikipedia. His late father, Leo Penn, directed television shows. His mother, Ryan, is an actress whose credits include “I Am Sam,” “Magnolia” and “Parenthood.” Chris Penn’s latest film, “The Darwin Awards,” was scheduled to premiere Wednesday at the Sundance Film Festival. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012506-02_01.jpg) Los Angeles County coroners wheel the body of actor Chris Penn out of his condominium complex in the alley behind Ocean Avenue on Tuesday. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012506-02_02.jpg) Eileen Ryan, mother of actor Chris Penn, on Tuesday sits in the lobby of an Ocean Avenue condominium complex with friends of the family, mourning the death of her son. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012506-02_03.jpg) Eileen Ryan, mother of actor Chris Penn, on Tuesday sits in the lobby of an Ocean Avenue condominium complex with friends of the family, mourning the death of her son. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 25, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/012506.pdf?ref=smdp.com)