Evan Ellingson, a former child star with credits that include the TV shows CSI: Miami and 24, plus films like My Sister's Keeper, has died at the age of 35.
The actor, whose last on-screen credit came in 2010, died at his San Bernardino County home, according to a report by TMZ, on Sunday. His cause of death has not yet been determined.
His family shared a statement yesterday with NBC News, which reads: "Our family is heartbroken by the sudden passing of our beloved son, brother, uncle and friend, Evan.
© Getty Images"Evan was one of the most caring individuals who loved Jesus with all his heart. He had a sweet, child-like spirit with a smile that could light up a room. He was always thinking of others and wanted to use his own struggles with addiction to help people find hope."
Expanding upon his relapse after three years of sobriety, they added: "He was passionate about pointing individuals to resources for help. While in the end, he fell in his earthly battle with addiction, he was able to choose Jesus as his Lord and Savior and receive eternal life with Him. We already miss Evan and cherish every moment of joy, laughter and love that he brought to us and so many others."
His father told TMZ that the late star was in a sober-living home, having dealt with addiction in the past, but was on the road to recovery, and the death was a "complete shock" to the family.
His My Sister's Keeper co-star Abigail Breslin took to Instagram with a lengthy tribute to the actor as well, gushing about their time together and writing: "Evan, I know Heaven will welcome you with open arms. Your time on this earth may have been, devastatingly, short. Your humor, exuberance, kindness and bright light will linger forever. Sending you peace on your journey to the great beyond and who knows… maybe one day, I’ll meet you in Montana.
Evan made his first on-screen appearance in the TV movie Living in Fear as the character "Young Chuck" at the age of 12, and followed that up with an appearance on an episode of the long-running soap General Hospital, also in 2001.
His first major performance came in the Fox dark-comedy series Titus, starring Christopher Titus, Zack Ward, and Cynthia Watros. He played a younger version of the title character for ten episodes spanning 2001-02.
© Getty ImagesAfter a few more TV and short film appearances, he garnered his first leading turn in the short-lived ABC sitcom Complete Savages, playing Kyle Savage.
The show, which was executive produced by Mel Gibson, only ran for one season spanning 19 episodes in the 2004-05 season, but garnered Evan a Young Artist Award nomination for Supporting Actor.
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He played another supporting role in 2007 in the Fox action drama 24 opposite Kiefer Sutherland, playing the lead character Jack Bauer's nephew Kyle.
© ShutterstockHis most notable role came in 2009, when he was cast as a supporting character in the feature film My Sister's Keeper opposite Abigail, Cameron Diaz, Jason Patric, and Alec Baldwin.
Evan played Jesse Fitzgerald, the son of Cameron's character Sara and brother of Abigail's Kate, who is dyslexic and attempts to be supportive of his sister as she is treated for a terminal disease, ending with [spoiler alert] him going off to college after she passes away.
The drama received mixed critical reception but was a box office hit, making nearly $100 million at the global box office.
© Getty ImagesHis final on-screen performance came in the police procedural drama CSI: Miami, in which he played Kyle Harmon, the son of lead Lt. Horatio Caine, played by David Caruso.
He made his first appearance in season six in 2007 and made notable appearances for the next few seasons, with his last being in 2010, appearing in a total of 18 episodes.
According to his IMDb bio, Evan "grew up in La Verne, California with his three brothers," and was "an active sports enthusiast/extremist, who enjoys surfing, snowboarding, skating and is exploring mountain climbing, and scuba diving."
It added that at the age of ten, Evan was "discovered at a skate park and was asked to not only skate for the Vans PeeWee team, but to do a commercial for the Vans Company," which led to his debut in the TV industry.
