Canadian officials are investigating the death of actor Spencer Lofranco, who died Monday.
The British Columbia Coroners Service confirmed its investigation on Friday, days after the “Gotti” and “Unbroken” actor’s brother announced his death on social media. Lofranco died Tuesday at age 33.
“My brother. You lived a life only some could dream of. You changed people[‘s] lives, and now you are with God,” Santino Lofranco wrote in a Facebook statement shared Thursday morning. “I will always love you and miss you BEAR. RIP.”
The statement did not include a cause of death. A spokesperson for the British Columbia Coroners Service did not share additional details, pending the ongoing investigation.
Spencer Lofranco most notably shared the screen with John Travolta in the critically-panned John Gotti biopic “Gotti” and appeared in Angelina Jolie’s Oscar-nominated World War II-set drama “Unbroken.” His credits also include films “At Middleton,” “Jamesy Boy,” “Dixieland” and “King Cobra” and the 2015 short film “Home,” according to IMDb.
In his “Jamesy Boy” review for The Times, critic Martin Tsai wrote, “newcomer Lofranco deserves credit for carrying the film.” Starring as ex-convict-turned-filmmaker James Burns, Lofranco “holds his own against vets” Ving Rhames, Mary-Louise Parker and James Woods, Tsai added.
Lofranco, born Oct. 18, 1992, told Interview in 2014 that he became interested in acting at age 17 despite his father’s wishes for him to be a hockey player or lawyer. His mother was a dancer, musician and actor and would often take him along to auditions, he said.
Amid his brief acting career, Lofranco faced legal trouble for running over a cyclist with his SUV in Hollywood in 2013. The cyclist suffered severe injuries, including a broken hip and several fractures, according to CBS News. Officials said Lofranco got out of his vehicle after the accident to apologize to his victim before leaving the scene.
A judge, after his victim’s urging for a harsher sentence, sentenced Lofranco in 2015 to 50 days of community service, two years of probation and $161,000 in restitution.
Over the last year, Lofranco often posted to Instagram, sharing photos of his outfits, tattoos and graffiti art. In his final Instagram post, a black-and-white selfie, Lofranco seemingly wrote about starting a new chapter of his life.
“Period the best is yet to come,” he said, after encouraging fans to follow his OnlyFans account. “The hair is on it way it’s got held up customs. Crazy.”
When he spoke to Interview more than a decade ago, Lofranco said his future path included doing “real-life, candid films.”
“I don’t want to be thrown into anything that could jeopardize my career. I want to be wise about what I choose,” he said. “Actors whose choices I’ve liked are Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, River Phoenix.”
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