Child actor Blake Garrett has been found dead at the age of 33. The actor – who starred in the 2006 film How to Eat Fried Worms – was living in Tulsa, Oklahoma after battling addiction.
His mother, Carol, confirmed his passing to TMZ, sharing that his cause of death remains unknown and they are awaiting autopsy results.
© WireImage"Blake went to the emergency room last week in Oklahoma after experiencing intense pain and was later diagnosed with shingles," reported TMZ, with his mother sharing Carol adding her fears that her son "may have self-medicated to cope with the pain from the viral infection"
Born in Texas, Blake made his acting debut on local productions of Annie and Grease before he joined the cast of Barney's Colorful World International Tour. He made his big-screen debut in the 2006 American children's comedy film How To Eat Fried Worms, written and directed by Bob Dolman and based on the 1973 children's book of the same name.
Blake starred as one of the bullies, Plug, one of the classmates of new boy Billy, who eats 15 worms in 15 days to win a $50 bet. It also starred James Rebhorn, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Tom Cavanagh.
© WireImageThe cast of How to Eat Fried Worms, which also included Hailee Eisenberg, the sister of Oscar-winning actor Jesse Eisenberg, won Best Young Ensemble at the Young Artist Foundation and he also starred in the pilot episode of the television series Inconceivable, which only ran for two episodes in 2005 before it was canceled.
For his big=screen debut, Blake was taught how to do a 360-degree move on a bicycle by a stuntman.
He told his local paper The Oklahoman: "There were rows of bicycles, and they let me have first pick. There was one scene where we were riding on a gravel road and got to slide to a stop. The guys who could ride worked on that scene. They had a camera on the ground, and in one scene I slid and gravel hit the camera. They really liked that shot, and that’s the one they used in the movie."
