‘NYPD Blue’ Star Austin Majors Dies at 27

Dennis Franz and Austin Majors in 'NYPD Blue'
20th Century Fox Television. All rights reserved. /Courtesy Everett Collection

Austin Majors, a young actor best known for his role in NYPD Blue has died. He was just 27 years old.

The former child star’s death was announced by TMZ which reported Majors had died Saturday, February 11 while boarding at a homeless housing facility in Los Angeles. While no exact cause of death has been officially determined, a source close to the deceased told the outlet that no foul play is suspected and instead it’s believed Majors died from ingesting a fatal amount of fentanyl.

Austin Majors

(Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

An autopsy and toxicology report will be conducted at a later date in hopes of finding out more information. Regarding his death, Majors’ family released a statement, which reads that he was “a loving, artistic, brilliant, and kind human being. Austin took great joy and pride in his acting career. He was an active Eagle Scout and graduated Salutatorian in High School. He went on to graduate from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts with a passion of directing and music producing.”

“Austin’s younger sister, Kali, says her fondest memories with Austin were growing up on set with him, volunteering at events with ‘Kids With a Cause,’ and backpacking together,” the statement continued. “Austin was the kind of son, brother, grandson, and nephew that made us proud and we will miss him deeply forever.”

As previously mentioned, Majors is best remembered for his role on ABC former cop drama NYPD Blue in which he portrayed Theo Sipowicz, the son of Dennis Franz‘s Detective Andy Sipowicz. He featured as the character in nearly 50 episodes, which was Majors’ biggest role in his brief career.

Apart from NYPD Blue, viewers may have seen him in other shows including ER, Hercules, Threshold, According to Jim, NCIS, American Dad!, Desperate Housewives, and How I Met Your Mother among others. His film credits include The Ant Bully, The Grey Man, Little Manhattan, and Dead Silence to name a few.

In 2002, Majors won the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Television Series for NYPD Blue.