This is a sad way to come back from an otherwise nice holiday break. Over the weekend, news broke that ‘Fast & Furious’ star Paul Walker has died. He was only 40-years-old and leaves behind a teenager daughter.
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In a tragic irony, the actor famous for leading a car racing franchise died in an auto accident. Walker was a passenger in a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT driven by his friend, the owner of a high-end vehicle dealership. On Saturday afternoon, both men were killed in a crash after leaving a charity event. The Sheriff’s Department in Santa Clarity County, CA, has reported that, “Speed was a factor in the solo vehicle collision.”<\/em> The car hit a light pole and was engulfed in flames. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene. <\/p>\n After coming up through the acting ranks in movie bit parts and TV walk-on roles, Walker broke out as a leading man with 2001’s racing thriller ‘The Fast and the Furious<\/a>‘. Although he had limited success outside that franchise, he returned for four more ‘Furious’ movies \u2013 only missing the third installment, ‘Tokyo Drift’. With a simple yet appealing formula (fast cars, big explosions) and an attractive ensemble cast, the ‘Furious’ franchise has been extremely popular around the world. This summer’s most recent entry, ‘Fast & Furious 6<\/a>‘, was the highest-grossing yet with a box office haul of nearly $800 million. Before his death, Walker had already shot footage for next summer’s ‘Fast & Furious 7’. At this time, it isn’t known whether he finished filming his part in the movie, or whether the circumstances of his death will affect the studio’s release plans. <\/p>\n The actor was an auto and racing enthusiast off-screen as well as on. In 2010, he competed in the RedLine Time Attack racing event, where he drove a custom BMW M3. He owned a Nissan Skyline R34 that was featured in ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’. <\/p>\n ‘Fast & Furious 6’ is scheduled for release on Blu-ray on December 10th. <\/p>\n