Brad Renfro

A precociously talented child star who fell prey to Hollywood's all-too-common tragic trajectory, Brad Renfro wowed critics and fans with his debut opposite Susan Sarandon in the John Grisham adaptation "The Client" (1994). Tween-friendly turns in the AIDS-themed drama "The Cure" (1995) and opposite Jonathan Taylor Thomas in "Tom and Huck" (1995) augured teen idolhood, but the hard-edged Renfro resisted being packaged. Gravitating towards darker, unconventional material, Renfro revealed much of himself in a string of sensitive but emotionally damaged characters in projects like "Sleepers" (1996) as the younger version of Brad Pitt, "Apt Pupil" (1998) as a twisted teen homoerotically fascinated by a former Nazi, an abused youth driven to murder his best friend in Larry Clark's powerful "Bully" (2001), and a sweet-natured but aimless convenience store clerk in the cult favorite "Ghost World" (2001). Renfro's personal demons and drug and alcohol addiction proved his undoing, and just as his child stardom was transitioning into an interesting and offbeat adult acting career, Renfro descended into never-ending legal troubles that destroyed his personal and professional lives. Tragically, the talented young actor died of a heroin overdose on Jan. 15, 2008, reminding more than a few of River Phoenix, and robbing himself and the world of ever realizing his amazing, unconventional potential.