Lee Thompson Young (February 1, 1984 – August 19, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his teenage role as the title character on the Disney Channel television series The Famous Jett Jackson and as Chris Comer in the movie Friday Night Lights. His last starring role wa

Early life

Young was born in Columbia, South Carolina, the son of Velma (née Love) and Tommy Scott Young. He was in the second grade when his parents' marriage ended, and he went to live with his mother. At age ten, he portrayed Martin Luther King in a play called A Night of Stars and Dreams by Dwight Woods, and the Phillis Wheatley Repertory Theater of Greenville, South Carolina. It was then that Lee decided he wanted to become an actor. After doing community theater for a while, he traveled to New York during the spring break of 1996 and secured an agent.

Career

Young moved to New York City in June 1996, but it was not until the next year that he auditioned for the part of Jett Jackson in The Famous Jett Jackson. He filmed the pilot and found out in June 1998 from the Disney Channel that the show had been picked up. It later went on to become a Disney movie in June 2001. In 1999, Young starred inJohnny Tsunami, another Disney Channel original movie, as Sam Sterling (a major character). The movie was successful, but he did not reprise the role in the sequel,Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board.

After the cancellation of The Famous Jett Jackson, Young had guest spots in CBS's The Guardian. He had a part in the movie Friday Night Lights portraying Chris Comer and a part in the Jamie Foxx movie Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story. Lee appeared on UPN's TV drama South Beach. He portrayed Victor Stone (known in DC Comics as Cyborg) in a fifth season episode of the television series Smallville in 2006. He reprised his character in the Season Six episode "Justice", which aired on January 18, 2007, and again in the Season Nine finale "Salvation", which aired on May 14, 2010.

Young appeared in the feature film Akeelah and the Bee, playing Akeelah's brother Devon. He played National Guard rookie, Delmar, in The Hills Have Eyes 2.

In 2009, Young played a cocky surgical intern in the hit comedy show Scrubs. It is revealed that his character was an overweight child. The character becomes involved in a romance with one of the medical interns.

Young played the role of Al Gough, an FBI agent, in the ABC television drama FlashForward. He was written off the show in episode 7, when his character committed suicide to prevent the death of an innocent civilian. He lastly played Barry Frost, partner of Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) on the TNT drama Rizzoli & Isles, and made an appearance on the Fox drama The Good Guys as the brother and business partner of an arms dealer.

Young also starred in the Sugababes video for their 2009 single "About a Girl".

Personal life

Young graduated with Honors from the University of Southern California, majoring in Cinematic Arts. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Young enjoyed writing and wrote the screenplay for the 2007 short film Mano.

Death

On August 19, 2013, Young failed to show up for filming an episode of Rizzoli & Isles. Police were called to do a well-being check on him at his Los Angeles apartment, where he was found dead. His manager confirmed the actor took his own life. Police confirmed cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 29.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2004

Friday Night Lights Chris Comer  

2006 Akeelah and the Bee Devon Anderson  

2007 The Hills Have Eyes 2 Delmar  

2007 Mano Machito Short film

2010 Bastard Passenger 1 Short film

2012 Just an American Curtiss Jackson  

Television Year Title Role Notes

1998–2001 The Famous Jett Jackson Jett Jackson / Silverstone Lead role

1999 Johnny Tsunami Sam Sterling TV movie

2001 Jett Jackson: The Movie Jett Jackson / Silverstone TV movie

2002 Philly Steven Hicks Episode: "There's No Business Like No Business"

2002 The Guardian Levi Mooney 5 episodes

2003 Jake 2.0 Prince Malik Namir Episode: "The Prince and the Revolution"

2003 The Jersey Himself Episode: "Origins: Part 2" 2004 Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story

Charles Becnel TV movie

2004 The Proud Family Teen Bebe (voice) Episode: "Twins to Tweens"

2004-2005 Xiaolin Showdown Jermaine (voice) 2 episodes

2005 Kevin Hill Levi Episode: "Homeland Insecurity"

2006 South Beach Alex Bauer 5 episodes

2006-2007 Smallville Victor Stone 2 episodes

2008 Five Year Plan Mutabi TV movie

2008 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Agent Stewart Episode: "Heavy Metal"

2009 Scrubs Derek 3 episodes

2009 Lincoln Heights Julian Episode: "Bully for You"

2009–2010 FlashForward Al Gough 8 episodes

2010 Smallville Victor Stone / Cyborg (uncredited) Episode: "Salvation"

2010 The Good Guys Eric Williams Episode: "Small Rooms"

2010–2013 Rizzoli & Isles Det. Barry Frost Main cast

2010 The Event Corporal Bell Episode: "Inostranka" Episode: "And Then There Were More"

2012 CSI: NY Kelvin Moore Episode: "Unwrapped"

s portraying Boston police detective Barry Frost on the TNT police drama series Rizzoli & Isles.