Christopher Shannon "Chris" Penn was an American film and television actor known for his roles in such films as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, Footloose, Rush Hour, True Romance, All the Right Moves and Pale Rider and in the videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest son of Leo Penn, an actor and director, and Eileen Ryan , an actress. His paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Russia, and his mother was a Roman Catholic of Italian and Irish descent. According to Penn's mother, Leo Penn may have had distant Spanish... ancestry, as the family's surname was originally "Piñón". His brothers are actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn. Penn started acting at the age of 12 at the Loft Studio and made his film debut in 1979’s Charlie and the Talking Buzzard, starring Christopher Hanks. In 1983, he was featured in Francis Ford Coppola’s youth drama Rumble Fish and appeared in the high school football drama All the Right Moves as the best friend of Tom Cruise's character.
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| Birthdate: | October 10, 1965 |
| Birthplace: | Los Angeles, California |
| Date of death: | January 24, 2006 |
| Height: | 5' 10" |
| Religion: | Roman Catholicism |
| Also known as: | Christopher Shannon Penn, Chris Penn, Matthew Chris Penn |