▶ Watch Video: Tributes pour in for “Breaking Bad” star RJ Mitte
RJ Mitte, who rose to fame playing Walter “Flynn” White Jr. on the hit series “Breaking Bad,” has died, his representative confirmed to CBS News. He was 34.
A cause of death was not provided. Cameron County Justice of the Peace Cyndi Hinojosa told The Associated Press that Mitte was pronounced dead around 1:30 p.m. on Monday in Brownsville, Texas.
Mitte played the son of Bryan Cranston’s high school-teacher-turned-drug-kingpin Walter White and Anna Gunn’s Skyler White on the AMC series, often cited as one of the greatest TV shows ever made.
Mitte, and by extension Walter Jr., had cerebral palsy.
“Drawing from his own experience living with cerebral palsy, Mitte brought authenticity to the role and built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion,” his representative, Sean Riley, said in a statement.
As a member of the “Breaking Bad” cast, Mitte won a Screen Actors Guild Award for best drama ensemble in 2014 for the show’s final season.
Cranston wrote on Instagram on Monday night that he was in “deep despair.”
“That kid was pretty raw when we started shooting the pilot in February of 2007, but little by little we watched him grow into a really fine actor,” he wrote. “He parlayed his experience on the show to be a vocal advocate for performers with disabilities, and was the head of a philanthropic organization with a focus on helping the disabled community. All that promise and potential now is such a loss.”
Cranston said he and Mitte had been texting a few weeks before his death to try to plan a lunch.
“I don’t know if that lunch would have changed his future,” Cranston wrote. “But I do know that I loved him, and thoroughly enjoyed being with him throughout the years on the series, and after the spotlight on Breaking Bad dimmed… I’ll miss you, son.”
Dean Norris, who played Walt Jr.’s uncle, Hank Schrader, on “Breaking Bad,” said, “Though RJ didn’t play my TV son, I always looked out for him as a young kid on set. He was a sweetheart of a young man and will be greatly missed. This is so heartbreaking, I can’t believe it. Thinking of him and his family.”
In addition to his acting, Mitte was an advocate for those with disabilities and sought to raise awareness for a variety of conditions while pushing for expanded roles for people with disabilities in Hollywood. In 2014, he received the SAG-AFTRA Howard Russell Award, named in honor of the first actor with a disability to win an Oscar.
“Beyond entertaining friends and family around the world, he served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s. He also served as president of The Mitte Foundation, supporting philanthropic efforts and community initiatives, while using his platform to challenge stereotypes and promote greater representation for people with disabilities,” Riley said.
Last year, Mitte partnered with Can Do Canines, which helps provide service dogs in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
“I’m very lucky with my disability that I have worked very hard to have the mobility I have today, but I see in many people’s lives, they don’t get the same opportunities,” Mitte said at the time.
