Houston Tumlin, Star Of ‘Talladega Nights,’ Dead By Suicide

Houston Tumlin, who cracked movie-goers up as the foul-mouthed, disrespectful son of Will Ferrell’s character in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby died Tuesday in his home near Birmingham, AL. The cause of death, per TMZ, was suicide by gunshot.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since Tumlin played Ricky Bobby’s son. Walker, along with his brother, Texas Ranger, were named after Ricky Bobby’s hero, the eponymous character played by Chuck Norris. It ended up being Tumlin’s only acting credit, but his delivery of some of the harshest, most obnoxious lines in cinema history is the stuff of legends today. Remember, he likes to picture Jesus as a ninja.

According to the report, Tumlin took his one life while his girlfriend was also home. The local coroner reported that no note was found. Not much is known about Tumlin after he left Hollywood, but according to an article from the Birmingham News, Tumlin graduated from high school in 2011 and as of 2015 was serving in the 101^st Airborne. A recent post on what appears to be his Instagram page shows him working on telephone lines in his native Alabama. He turned 28 in December.