Brad Renfro

Brad Barron Renfro (July 25, 1982 – January 15, 2008) was an American actor. He made his movie debut in 1994 in the title role of The Client. He acted in 21 movies, several short films, and one television episode during his career. Much of his later career was marred by a pattern of substance abuse. He died January 15, 2008 from an overdose of heroin.

Brad Renfro was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Angela and Mark Renfro, who was a factory worker.He was raised from the age of five by his paternal grandmother, Joanne Barron Renfro, a church secretary. Renfro fathered one child, a son named Yamato Renfro, born in 2003. The boy lives in Japan with his mother.

Renfro was discovered by Mali Finn, a casting director for Joel Schumacher, when he was 10. His only previous acting experience was as a dealer in an anti-drugs workshop school production. Cast by Finn for Schumacher's The Client, Renfro acted alongside Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. Based on the bestselling John Grisham novel, it became one of the top-grossing films of 1994. In 1995, he won Hollywood Reporter's "Young Star" award, and was nominated as one of People's "Top 30 Under 30". That year, he played Huckleberry "Huck" Finn in 1995's Tom and Huck with Jonathan Taylor Thomas.

In 1996, he was cast in Sleepers, based on the novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra. The film was directed by Barry Levinson and also starred Robert De Niro, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffman and Brad Pitt.