Brad Renfro, the child actor who shot to fame aged 11 in Joel Schumacher's courtroom drama The Client (1994), was found dead by his girlfriend in his Los Angeles flat on 15 January 2008. He was 25. A post-mortem examination concluded his death was accidental, caused by 'acute heroin/morphine intoxication'.
Renfro's career spanned 14 years and more than 20 films before his death. His body of work included The Cure, Tom and Huck, Sleepers, Telling Lies in America, Apt Pupil, Bully, Happy Campers, The Jacket and The Informers. His final significant film was the 2008 crime thriller The Informers, in which he appeared alongside Billy Bob Thornton and Winona Ryder.
Early Life and Discovery
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Renfro was raised by his paternal grandmother, Joanne Renfro, from the age of five. His parents had separated, he had no contact with his father, and his mother struggled with heroin addiction. By the age of 10, he was already drinking and smoking and admitted he had 'experimented' with drugs.
In an interview with journalist Bobbie Wygant, he said it was "nothing serious, you know. It's stupid. You know, drugs are really stupid." He was expelled from school for disruptive behaviour on the same day a retired police officer had visited to give a talk about the dangers of drug use.
Shortly afterwards, Mali Finn, casting director for The Client, arrived at Knoxville police station looking for a rough, rebellious youngster to audition. Dennis Bowman, the retired officer who had visited Renfro's school, recommended him. Finn met Renfro at her hotel, called the film's crew and said "I found him".
Rise to Fame and Early Success
Schumacher selected Renfro from 6,000 aspiring young performers. Schumacher told People: "I think Brad had lived a great deal by the time he was 10 and had experienced many, many emotions. When any actor brings that emotional experience to their gifts, there is an honesty coming from understanding."
Susan Sarandon, his co-star in The Client, told People in 1996: "I learned a lot working with him. Brad is full of surprises." Renfro won The Hollywood Reporter's 'Young Star' award and was nominated for People Magazine's 'Top 30 Under 30' list. He told the publication: "I'm really lucky - to love what I do and get paid for it. I'd do it for free if it's good."
Renfro also appeared in Tom and Huck (1995) and played the younger version of Brad Pitt's character in Sleepers (1996). The Cure director Peter Horton told the Chicago Tribune that the 13-year-old had 'enormous sex appeal'. Telling Lies in America screenwriter Joe Eszterhas wrote in his memoir: "At 14 he was already a chain smoker," adding that he often saw Renfro "sneaking sips of beer that he thought no one noticed". Eszterhas described him as "the oldest fourteen-year-old I had ever met".
Legal Troubles and Final Years
In 1998, shortly after filming Apt Pupil, the then 15-year-old was arrested for possession of marijuana and cocaine. After the arrest, he told People: "I'm glad I got arrested, because it taught me a lot. I've had several months of being sober - I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm glad it happened when I was 16, not 36."
He added: "If you've never done it, don't. If you have done it, pray. Then get some good sober time. Once you have that, you'll have a natural high." In August 2000, he was arrested again and received two years' probation after allegedly being intoxicated and attempting to steal a 45-foot luxury yacht in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a friend. In 2005, he was arrested in Los Angeles for attempting to buy heroin from an undercover officer in a police sting, facing charges of driving under the influence and a felony count of attempting to possess heroin. He pleaded guilty and entered rehab.
Death and Aftermath
On the morning of his death, Renfro had been out with friends the night before. In the 911 call, his girlfriend told the operator: "I'm not sure. I mean, I think he might have taken a couple of pills last night. He had an audition at 1 o'clock this afternoon. I've been trying to wake him up to get ready and he just won't move."
It later emerged that Renfro had allegedly told friends he had been born dependent on heroin and had reportedly been taking the drug since the age of 12. Assistant director Fernando Altschul, who worked with him on Apt Pupil, told BuzzFeed: "I feel like we've failed children like Brad in some ways. Maybe there should be someone who says a person in his situation isn't psychologically ready to be on such a volatile place as a film set. I don't know how you make that judgment, and if you're offering somebody money, [how] they're going to say no to it."
Before his death, it was not publicly known that Renfro had fathered a son, Yamato, born in Japan in 2003 and raised there by his mother. His son's name was omitted from Renfro's death notice but was later added to the obituary of Renfro's mother, Angela, who died in 2012.
