While some child stars go on to become major actors and award-winners as adults, it doesn’t always go so positively for others.
In this tragic case, one young actor went on to commit a grim murder in their later life.
Easily best known for playing Kip ‘Half Sack’ Epps in Sons of Anarchy, he started off in the TV and film industry young, working in front of the camera from the age of just six.
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Johnny Lewis also had credits in the likes of The OC, Bones, Cold Case and Criminal Minds.
It all began for him when he did adverts and appeared on shows like Malcolm in the Middle.
As Lewis got older, he lived more privately while also having relationships with the likes of Katy Perry and Diane Gaeta.
In 2009, he quit Sons of Anarchy and took on more low-budget film roles.
Then, on 30 October 2011, Lewis suffered a major head injury from a high-speed motorbike accident.
After getting out of hospital, he continued to preach Scientology with his parents, who were already members of society.
His father, Michael, claims he tried to book his son in for two MRI scans, but it was Lewis who didn't want to have them.
Then, at the age of 28, the actor shocked the world when he committed an unforgivable crime on 26 September 2012. He had already spent time in prison for a number of violent assaults before moving into a rented property in Los Feliz Hills, Los Angeles.
Not long after greeting his neighbour, Dan Blackburn, he launched a bloody attack of his painter.
Blackburn, who was in his 70s at the time, managed to pull Lewis off the painter. But the actor retaliated by hitting him in the eye.
The neighbour, his wife and the painter managed to escape back into the house after slamming the front door four times on Lewis' arm.
By the time police arrived, Cathy Davis, the 81-year-old owner of the villa where Lewis was staying, was found beaten and strangled to death. The actor was lying in the middle of the drive with his skull cracked in half.
Post-mortem results showed that there were no drugs or alcohol in his system, and his death was thought to be an accident.
It was believed that Lewis jumped or fell from the rooftop of his house.
Screenwriter and Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, said “I wish I could say that I was shocked by the events last night, but I was not.”
Actor Shannon Woodward added: “Johnny Lewis was one of my best friends. He was very, very ill. His actions were a despicable result of that. It was not who he was.”
Topics: Crime, TV and Film, Celebrity
Jess Battison