'Fast and Furious' actor Paul Walker dies in car crash

[Romo]

(Reuters) - Actor Paul Walker, best known for his roles in the "Fast and the Furious" action movies, died on Saturday in a car crash in Southern California, his publicist said.

Walker, 40, who was in five of the six films about illegal street racing and heists, was a passenger in a friend's car and was attending a charity event, according to a message linked to his Twitter account.

"Sadly, I must confirm that Paul did pass away this afternoon in a car accident," Ame Van Iden, Walker's publicist, said in an email.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement that two people were killed in a car accident in Valencia, a community in the city of Santa Clarita, at about 3:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. GMT).

Deputies arriving at the scene found the vehicle engulfed in flames. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene, the statement said. The office did not provide the identities of the dead, and said the cause was under investigation.

In the "Fast and Furious" pictures, the blond-haired, blue-eyed actor played Brian O'Conner, a law enforcement official.

The first movie in the series, which stars Vin Diesel, was released in 2001, and a seventh was in development at the time of his death, Universal, the studio behind the franchise, said in a statement. The most recent film, released in May, was one of this year's biggest box office hits.

"Brother I will miss you very much," Diesel said in a post on Instagram, adding "I am absolutely speechless. Heaven has gained a new Angel. Rest in Peace."

According to the IMDb.com movie website, Paul William Walker IV was born in Glendale, California, in 1973 and began acting at a very young age, appearing in many commercials.

He played Professor Bennet in the 1987 movie "Monster in the Closet" and starred in the television series "Throb," IMDb said.

Walker also made guest appearances on television shows, including "Charles in Charge" and "Who's the Boss?" and had a role in the soap opera, "The Young and the Restless."

Other film appearances include "Timeline," "Into the Blue," "The Lazarus Project" and "Hours," which is slated for release in December.

According to IMDb, Walker has a daughter named Meadow.

Universal conveyed its condolences to Walker's family, saying, "All of us at Universal are heartbroken.

"Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the Fast and Furious films, and to countless fans."

More tributes flowed on social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

"So sad. He gave a lot of joy," wrote James Franco, while model/actor Tyson Beckford posted "Tyson Beckford: RIP Paul Walker, loved working with you on "Into the Blue."

Television host Carson Daly said that he was "Sick about the tragic loss of #PaulWalker. I enjoyed our time together very much. Such a really nice guy," while actress Alyssa Milano, current host of "Project Runway All Stars," protested "No. No. No" before adding "Rest with the angels."

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[prophet]

RIP Paul. Such a sad story to wake up too, especially as a fan of his.

[Viazon]

Such a sad story. So young as well. RIP Paul.

[ShaneOfan]

RIP Paul. Always sad to see anyone go especially so young.

[Everlong]

Rather fitting that this is the way he goes out, but man, crazy story. I was at a party last night when I heard about this and nobody there believed it was true.

[Westcoastvibes]

So sad to hear.

Such a small world though... if anyone has seen the pictures or the knarly video on you tube, I used to work in the building shown behind the crash.
It happened in my home town of Valencia California in a section of town known as the industrial center. Its home to many manufacturing facilities, tech services companies and movie studio sound stages/editing companies. The place I worked was a tech services company that provided customer support to customers of cox communications, Cingular wireless(known as at&t know) and photo bucket. We also used to to album screening for all photo bucket accounts to monitor for illegal underage porn, illegal activities caught on camera or pictures of drug use.

Anyways, sad to hear that he has passed away and I wish the best for his family.

[motionmann]

This is terrible news. I was out with friends last night and when we found out, we couldn't believe it. I've seen every FF movie so I've literally grown up watching this man. Sad that he had to leave. When I first found out I thought it was another Twitter hoax... sadly it was not.

[JDD]

Really sad news. I wonder how much of Fast 7 they had filmed already an what theyre going to do now.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Shocked to read this in the morning.

There's a quote he said, something on the lines of "If speed kills me, I'll be smiling so don't cry". Sadly, turned out prophetic.

He seemed a cool dude and kind and I think they've shot Fast 7 haven't they or are they still shooting? I'm basing that on Rock's tweets.

RIP Paul Walker

[Romo]

an statement from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.

“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… Speed was a factor in the solo vehicle collision. The car was a red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT.”

[PorkChop]

Horrid news. Far too young.

Not many people know he was a BJJ practitioner:

RIP.

[Locke]

Very sad by this news. I always thought he was fun to watch in movies, despite always being very "samey" in his roles, it was just enjoyable. I also thought he looked like a good buddy's older brother, who also was killed before his time (accidental gunshot wound) and now they're both dead. Seriously is a crime to be that good lookin', I guess.

Anyhoo, I look forward (I guess?) to hearing more details on this. It's very Ryan Dunnish right now, little details, but I'd like to know how/why they crashed.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Thoughts go to the guy was driving aswell, he's been forgotten about (expected sadly) in the midst of the tributes for Walker. I think he might have been a motor racing guy - from a picture that I saw reportedly to be the guy who was driving with Paul but might be wrong.

[Kyle]

Very sad news. Way too young.

[SlightlyJames]

Don't think I've ever seen him in anything but 40 is too young. RIP

[Settee]

I hate when stuff like this happens. Someone famous dies and everyone acts like they care, a bunch of non-famous people die and nobody gives a shit. I am tired of all the Bullshit, yes he died and it is unfortunate but everyone acts like they knew the guy personally. I am sick of all the phony people out there.

[Westcoastvibes]

^wow, I understand where you are coming from but you are missing a key point when it comes to people caring about a celebrity passing away. Millions of people care about a celebrity death and show compassion because unlike some random guy on the street, people know who he is. They may not know him personally but they do know of him and most likely have some sorta connection with him threw his movies. Plus, what the fuck is wrong with people showing a bit of humanity?

[Viazon]

^wow, I understand where you are coming from but you are missing a key point when it comes to people caring about a celebrity passing away. Millions of people care about a celebrity death and show compassion because unlike some random guy on the street, people know who he is. They may not know him personally but they do know of him and most likely have some sorta connection with him threw his movies. Plus, what the fuck is wrong with people showing a bit of humanity?

This.

This is just the way the world is. If someone told me that some guy from the other side of the world who I don't know nor met before has died in a car crash, I wouldn't care. Now, granted I don't know nor have met Paul Walker either, but as westcoastvibes just stated, you feel some sort of connection to celebrities through their movies or their music or whatever it is they do, so I see no reason why people shouldn't feel sad about it when they don't care about random people they don't know. There may be people out there who really enjoyed his work in Fast and Furious and will miss him because of that. That random guy on the other side of the world who died? What does he have to offer that fan? What is he to him? That's the way it's always been.

[SlightlyJames]

Stay classy Pokemon fans. Apparently this got wonder traded to someone.

[Settee]

^wow, I understand where you are coming from but you are missing a key point when it comes to people caring about a celebrity passing away. Millions of people care about a celebrity death and show compassion because unlike some random guy on the street, people know who he is. They may not know him personally but they do know of him and most likely have some sorta connection with him threw his movies. Plus, what the fuck is wrong with people showing a bit of humanity?

This.

This is just the way the world is. If someone told me that some guy from the other side of the world who I don't know nor met before has died in a car crash, I wouldn't care. Now, granted I don't know nor have met Paul Walker either, but as westcoastvibes just stated, you feel some sort of connection to celebrities through their movies or their music or whatever it is they do, so I see no reason why people shouldn't feel sad about it when they don't care about random people they don't know. There may be people out there who really enjoyed his work in Fast and Furious and will miss him because of that. That random guy on the other side of the world who died? What does he have to offer that fan? What is he to him? That's the way it's always been.

You have to admit it is pitiful that people are more upset over Paul Walker dying than the 7 people who were killed on black friday. People care entirely too much about celebrities, and they definitely care too much about the wrong issues.