Evan Hershey Helmuth (May 18, 1977 – July 17, 2017) was an American film and television

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

. Helmuth was best known for his

lead role A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typica ...

as Father David Keane in the 2012 horror film, '' The Devil Inside''. His other film credits included '' Fever Pitch'' in 2005, in which he played

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The Ton ...

's best friend, '' Ready or Not'' in 2009, and '' Jobs'' in 2013.

Biography

Early life

Helmuth was born May 18, 1977, to John William Helmuth and Kerry O’Brien Helmuth. He was raised in

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City move ...

until the age of 10, when his family moved to

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary med ...

. Helmuth initially attended arts camp at

Interlochen Center for the Arts Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City. I ...

Interlochen, Michigan Interlochen ( ') is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the population was 694, up from 583 at the 2010 census. The community is located wit ...

for several summers before enrolling at Interlochen's full-time high school arts academy for three years. He graduated from Interlochen as a theater major in 1995. Helmuth studied at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

's School of Dramatic Arts, where he received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1999 as the recipient of USC's Jack Nicholson Award for outstanding actor. While attending USC, Helmuth met writer and producer Josh Appelbaum, who later co-wrote the 2005 episode of the television series, '' Alias'', that featured Helmuth as a guest star.

Career

Helmuth worked in film and television following his graduation from the University of Southern California, including '' Garfield: The Movie'' in 2004. In 2005, Helmuth appeared in the

Farrelly brothers Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly, collectively referred to as the Farrelly brothers, are American screenwriters and directors. They have made eleven films together, including '' Dumb and Dumber'', '' Outside Providence'', and '' There's Somethi ...

' romantic comedy, '' Fever Pitch'', as Troy, the best friend and sidekick of

's character. Helmuth later co-starred in the 2009 independent comedy, '' Ready or Not'', alongside

Christian Oliver Christian Oliver (born 3 March 1975) is a German actor. Oliver was born in Celle and grew up in Frankfurt am Main. He relocated to the United States to work as a model and subsequently took acting lessons in New York and Los Angeles. From 20 ...

and Seamus Dever. Helmuth was best known for his

as Father David Keane in the 2012

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...

, '' The Devil Inside'', directed by William Brent Bell. The film, which stars Fernanda Andrade, Helmuth, and Simon Quarterman, was produced on a shoestring budget. However, the film debuted with a surprising $34.5 million to win its

opening weekend The following is a list of the highest-grossing opening weekends for films. The list is dominated by recent films due to inflation, steadily increasing production and marketing budgets, and modern films opening on more screens. Biggest worldwide o ...

in January 2012. Most recently, Helmuth appeared in the 2013

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudr ...

, '' Jobs''. In addition to his spot on ''Alias'', Helmuth's television credits included guest roles on ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'' (2006), '' Bones'' (2012), ''

Rizzoli & Isles ''Rizzoli & Isles'' is an American crime drama television series starring Angie Harmon as Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as Maura Isles. Based on the series of ''Rizzoli & Isles'' novels by Tess Gerritsen, the plot follows Boston Homicide poli ...

'' (2012), ''

Perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system, ...

'' (2013), and ''

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encom ...

'' (2015).

Death

Helmuth died at the age of 40 on July 17, 2017, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

, after complications from a stroke.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helmuth, Evan 1977 births 2017 deaths 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors USC School of Dramatic Arts alumni Male actors from Virginia Male actors from Iowa People from Reston, Virginia People from Ames, Iowa Male actors from Los Angeles