Austin Majors, who was best known for his role as Theo Sipowicz in the long-running series NYPD Blue, died aged 27 over the weekend at a homeless shelter.
The former child star appeared in the police procedural ABC series between 1999-2004 as the son of the main character Andy Sipowicz (played by Dennis Franz).
Majors also had guest appearances in other hit shows including ER, According to Jim, and Desperate Housewives.
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During his career, he won the Young Artists Award for Best Performance in a Television Series in 2002 for his work on NYPD Blue.
He was also nominated for Best Performance in a Voice Over Role for the Disney animated film Treasure Planet.
Major's last acting appearance was in 2009, when he starred in How I Met Your Mother.
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Majors was born on 23 November 1995 as Austin Setmajer.
He graduated second in his class in high school in 2013 and attended the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, majoring in Film and Television production with a minor in music production
But after a promising start to his acting career, Majors mostly lived out of the limelight.
More recently, he appeared to be pursuing a career in music under the stage name “Pope !”.
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He often shared his dark, electronic productions on Instagram, where he would also post selfies wearing golden grills.
He was found dead on Saturday night (11 February) in a Los Angeles homeless facility, according to TMZ.
His death was confirmed by the LA county Medical Examiner-Coroner, with the cause yet to be determined.
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An autopsy is set to be completed by Monday (20 February) and final toxicology results are expected in the next few months.
His sister, Kali Majors, released a family statement with Entertainment Weekly, in which they remembered Majors as an ‘artistic, brilliant and kind human being’.
His family shared: “Austin took great joy and pride in his acting career. "From the time he was little, he never knew a stranger and his goal in life was to make people happy.
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"He grew up in a small town where he loved camping and fishing with his family and Boy Scout Troop. He loved his dog, Sunny, and the horse he grew up riding, Balla.”
His sister also added some of her fondest memories with her late brother: “Growing up on set with him, volunteering at events with Kids With a Cause, and backpacking together.
"Austin was the kind of son, brother, grandson, and nephew that made us proud and we will miss him deeply forever.”
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV
Gregory Robinson