Child star Austin Majors displayed troubling behavior on social media in the weeks before his death from an apparent drug overdose over the weekend.
Majors, once a beloved cherubic face frequently seen on the television show NYPD Blue, had traded in his chubby cheeks for a ragged beard, tangled hair, and apparently a set of golden Grillz along his lower teeth.
The actor was found dead on Saturday night in a Los Angeles homeless facility after possibly 'ingesting a fatal amount of fentanyl,' TMZ reported. He was 27.
Majors hadn't acted since 2009, according to his IMDB page, and had recently embarked instead on a music career under the name 'Pope !'.
In a series of recent posts Majors promoted his music - a collection of dark house-music - while espousing about existential topics, and even mentioned fighting off 'isolation demons' months before his death.
Austin Majors in a post on his Instagram from 2022. He was found dead in early February
Austin Majors as a young boy appears on an episode of NYPD blue in 1999
It remains unclear whether Majors was going through a period of homelessness at the time of his death, or how long he had been at the shelter where he was reportedly found dead.
An autopsy on his body was scheduled to be completed Monday, and final toxicology results are expected in a few months.
His family released a statement calling Austin a 'loving, artistic, brilliant, and kind human being.'
'Austin took great joy and pride in his acting career,' they told TMZ. 'He was an active Eagle Scout and graduated Salutatorian in High School. He went on to graduate from USC's School of Cinematic Arts with a passion of directing and music producing.'
Though he hadn't acted in over a decade, in 2020 Austin shared a picture on his Instagram of his Screen Actors Guild membership card, saying he had been a member for twenty years.
Instead of acting, Majors had been pursuing a career in music. In numerous posts he described himself as a 'struggling artist.'
His music teemed with minor keys, chaotic a-melodic synthesizer lines, and seemed to reflect a dark and scattered state of mind that appeared in his social media posts.
A post Majors made on his Instagram months before his death from an apparent drug overdose
Majors made a series of troubling posts on his social media in the months before he died
Majors promoted his music - a dark blend of house music - on social media in recent years
Austin starred as Theo Sipowicz in NYPD Blue for seven seasons; he played the son of Detective Andy Sipowicz, who was played by Dennis Franz.
Austin won the Young Artists Award for Best Performance in a Television Series for his work in NYPD Blue in 2002.
The actor was also nominated for Best Performance in a Voice Over Role for Treasure Planet.
He was born on November 23 in California as Austin Setmajer.
Austin graduated second in his class in high school in 2013, going on to attend school at the University of Southern California, at the School of Cinematic Arts - majoring in Film and Television production with a minor in music production.
Majors in 2018. Social media posts showed his appearance changed in recent months
Austin appeared in numerous television shows and movies up until 2009
Majors on the set of NYPD Blue. His last appearance on camera came in 2009
Austin's first role was in 1997 in the film Nevada, playing a young boy.
He went on to star in The Price of Air in 2000, Providence in 2001, Treasure Planet in 2002, Bananas in 2004 - before landing the role of Theo in NYPD Blue.
He starred as Theo in 48 episodes from 1999 until 2004.
From there, Austin went on to star in Volare in 2004, ER for one episode in 2005, Hercules for two episodes in 2005 as well as Little Manhattan in 2005.
He had small roles in Bye Bye Benjamin, Threshold, According to Jim, NCIS, The Ant Bully, American Dad!, Dead Silence, The Gray Man and Desperate Housewives between 2005 through 2007.
In his last roles, Austin starred as Will Wright in the TV movie An Accidental Christmas in 2007, Hank in Night Writer in 2007 and How I Met Your Mother for one episode in 2009.
