Christopher Shannon Penn was born on October 10, 1965 in Los Angeles, California, USA and died on January 24, 2006 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He was an American film actor.

In 1983, he made his feature film debut in Francis Ford Coppola's youth drama Rumble Fish as a rowdy member of Matt Dillon's clique. That was followed by a small role in the high school football drama All the Right Moves, starring Tom Cruise.

He also appeared in the hit dance musical Footloose in 1984, played a villain in the Clint Eastwood western Pale Rider (1985), and co-starred with his brother, Sean, and mother Eileen Ryan in At Close Range (1986).

He also starred in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992), True Romance (1993), Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), the comedy To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1985), and Mulholland Falls (1996).

Recent appearances include Murder By Numbers, Stealing Harvard and Marked and Anonymous. He has several new films about to be released, including the much anticipated Starsky&Hutch (2004).

Penn was found dead in his Santa Monica condominium on January 24, 2006 at the age of 40. He was the son of noted director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan, and the brother of actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn.

Filmography

• Aftermath (2006)
• King of Sorrow (2006)
• The Darwin Awards (2006)
• Holly (2005)
• After the Sunset (2004)
• Starsky&Hutch (2004)
• Shelter Island (2003)
• Masked and Anonymous (2003)
• Stealing Harvard (2002)
• Murder by Numbers (2002)
• Corky Romano (2001)
• Microwave Park (2001)
• Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) (2000)
• The Florentine (1999)
• One Tough Cop (1998)
• Rush Hour (1998)
• The Boy's Club (1996)
• The Funeral (1996)
• Mulholland Falls (1996)
• Fist of the North Star (1995)
• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)
• Under the Hula Moon (1995)
• Imaginary Crimes (1994)
• Beethoven's 2nd (1993)
• Best of the Best II (1993)
• Josh and S.A.M. (1993)
• The Music of Chance (1993)
• The Pickle (1993)
• Short Cuts (1993)
• True Romance (1993)
• Leather Jackets (1992)
• Reservoir Dogs (1992)
• Future Kick (1991)
• Mobsters (1991)
• Best of the Best (1989)
• Made in USA (1988)
• At Close Range (1986)
• Pale Rider (1985)
• Footloose (1984)
• The Wild Life (1984)
• All the Right Moves (1983)
• Rumble Fish (1983)

Awards

• Venice Film Festival Best Supporting Performance Award "The Funeral" 1996