Paul Walker, handsome and enigmatic star of the “Fast and the Furious” movie series, died yesterday afternoon in a car crash in Santa Clarita, California. He was 40 years old. Walker and a friend perished in friend’s Porsche Carrera GT after attending a fundraiser for the Philippines typhoon survivors. TMZ has an interview with one of his friends who tried to save him from the wreck.
Here’s the Facebook announcement. https://www.facebook.com/PaulWalker/posts/690316711002596. Walker leaves behind a 15 year old daughter. Condolences to his family and many friends.
The LA Sheriff’s Department has issued this statement: “Patrol deputies from Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station responded to a report of a traffic collision at approximately 3:30PM in the 28300 block of Rye Canyon Loop, Valencia, on Saturday, November 30, 2013.
When they arrived, deputies found the vehicle engulfed in flames. The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded, extinguished the fire and subsequently located two victims inside the vehicle. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
The cause of the collision is under investigation. The Coroner’s Office will determine the identities and the cause of death of the victims.”
All together, Walker had made five of the six “Fast and Furious” movies, with a seventh one just completing production. (He wasn’t in the third installment.) The series kicked off in 2001 and was very popular. Otherwise, his movies comprised direct to video action films including three in 2013 alone– Vehicle 19, Hours, and Pawn Shop Chronicles. He had a cult following from those films and a massive number of fans around the world.
His longest running co-star, Vin Diesel, posted this on Twitter:
My brother and I…..we aimed for the stars together….and achieved more than we ever hoped we could with f&f pic.twitter.com/TWWdoaEX1D
— Vin Diesel (@REAL_VinDiesel) December 1, 2013