Austin Majors has been found dead at age 27, following a potential overdose while staying at a facility for people experiencing homelessness.
TMZ has reported the former child star from NYPD Blue may have taken a lethal dose of fentanyl which resulted in his death, although this has not been confirmed by authorities yet. Majors’ family have confirmed his death, issuing a statement to TMZ speaking of the sadness of his passing, and describing Majors as “loving, artistic, and brilliant.”
“Was a loving, artistic, brilliant, and kind human being. Austin took great joy and pride in his acting career. He was an active Eagle Scout and graduated Salutatorian in High School. He went on to graduate from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts with a passion of directing and music producing.”
Majors played Theo Sipowicz in NYPD Blue for several years, the son of Dennis Franz’s detective Andy Sipowicz. The child star didn’t just do television, with him also starring in multiple films such as Treasure Planet, An Accidental Christmas, and Little Manhattan among other roles.
Outside of NYPD Blue, he also saw one-off appearances in NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives, and According to Jim. Majors had also collected credits for cinematography and editing, with his last credits both coming in 2015 for short films.
Majors is survived by his parents and sister, with his younger sister Kali Majors also working in the industry as an actor as well as working behind the camera. The duo starred together in short film Volare in 2004.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. A list of international crisis resourcescan be found here.