The younger brother of the Hollywood actor Sean Penn has been found dead at his home in Santa Monica, California.

Chris Penn was a successful character actor, specialising in playing criminals such as Nice Guy Eddie Cabot in the gory 1992 thriller Reservoir Dogs, a role which provided his acting breakthrough.

His 56 other film credits - he started acting at the age of 12 - include Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 teen gang move Rumble Fish, a role as Kevin Bacon's best mate who learns to dance in Footloose in 1984, the Clint Eastwood 1985 Western Pale Rider, Robert Altman's Short Cuts, Mulholland Falls and the 1998 Jackie Chan action thriller Rush Hour.

More recently he was in the 2004 comedy thriller Starsky and Hutch, and appeared in two films due to be released later this year: Aftermath, and King of Sorrow.

His body was found inside the four-storey block of flats on Ocean Avenue where he lived, after police were called by someone within the building.

Police said that there were no obvious signs of foul play. A post-mortem examination will determine the cause of death. Police said that the stockily-built star was 40 years old, but other sources indicated that he was 43.

Penn's latest film, The Darwin Awards, was scheduled to have its premiere today at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah. He features alongside Winona Ryder, Joseph Fiennes and David Arquette in the comedy adventure.

His late father, Leo Penn, was a television director. Another brother, Michael Penn, is a musician, and a fourth brother, Matthew, is also an actor. His mother, Eilleen Ryan, an actress whose credits include I Am Sam, Magnolia and Parenthood, visited the building after news of the death emerged, accompanied by the actor Martin Sheen.

Sean Penn's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, issued a statement saying that "the Penn family would appreciate the media's respect of their privacy during this difficult time".

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