Beloved actor of the Fast and Furious franchise Paul Walker died in a fiery car crash in Southern California on Saturday, November 30.
Walker, 40, was the passenger in a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, being driven by his friend and racing team partner, Roger Rodas. The car slammed into a light pole and burst into flames in an office park in the community of Valencia, about 30 miles north of Hollywood. Speed was a big factor in the crash, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said. A 45 mph speed limit sign attached to the light pole was knocked down by the car.
The wreck took place at about 3:30 p.m., both men coming from a holiday toy drive hosted by Walker’s charity, R
each Out Worldwide. Walker and Rodas planned Saturday to be a day to help survivors and victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Walker’s charity is described as, “a network of professionals with first responder skill-sets who augment local expertise when natural disasters strike in order to accelerate relief efforts.”
Walker had huge box office successes as a young Hollywood actor. His first few roles in movies were as supporting characters in teen flicks, most notably in Varsity Blues. Most fans know him as Brian O’Conner, an undercover cop infiltrating a street-racing gang in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious.
Because of the movie’s box-office success, many sequels were made with Walker starring alongside big names, such as Vin Diesel and Tyrese Gibson. He was currently working on filming the seventh movie of the “Fast and Furious” franchise. Walker was not only a car-enthusiast on-screen, but off-screen, the actor competed in the Redline Time Attack racing series.
With filming so far in for Fast and Furious 7, according to The Hollywood Reporter, writer Chris Morgan is now back working on the script in order to deal with the death of Walker’s main character. Walker had already shot about half of his character, making it very difficult for writers to be able to sidestep Brian O’Conner altogether.
A spontaneous memorial occurred moments after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office removed the yellow tape from the crash site. Fans have gathered every day and night since the crash to leave flowers and candles on the roadside where Walker and Rodas died. Vin Diesel used a police car’s loudspeaker to speak to a crowd of mourning fans, calling Walker an “angel up in Heaven.” Tyrese Gibson broke down sobbing as he laid a yellow flower at the site.
Walker’s twitter account described himself as “outdoorsman, ocean addict, adrenaline junkie… and I do some acting on the side.” The actor was also the star of “Hours,” an independent film scheduled to release December 13. Walker played a father struggling to keep his newborn infant alive in the aftermath of Hurr
- Photo By: Brian Raimondi,via Wikimedia Commons. Actor and dear friend of Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson starred in movies with the fallen actor.
icane Katrina in New Orleans.
Fellow actors expressed their condolences on twitter and other social media sites, including Will Smith, Jack Osbourne, DMX, and many others. Walker is survived by his 15-year-old daughter, Meadow.
