Lee Thompson Young Biography

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

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 in Johnny 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. His last acting role was playing 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 interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Friday Night Lights	Chris Comer
2006	Akeelah and the Bee	Devon Anderson
2007	'	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	'	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	'	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	'	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/Cyborg	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	'	Eric Williams	Episode: "Small Rooms"
2010"2013	Rizzoli & Isles	Det. Barry Frost	Main cast
2010	'	Corporal Bell	Episode: "Inostranka" Episode: "And Then There Were More"
2012	CSI: NY	Kelvin Moore	Episode: "Unwrapped"