RJ Mitte

RJ Mitte died on Monday, October 12, 2026, in Brownsville, Texas, at the age of 34. His representatives confirmed his death to Variety and other outlets without giving a cause, describing him as a "beloved actor, philanthropist, and passionate disability rights advocate." TMZ reported, citing a county official, that his death was a suicide, and law enforcement said the investigation was ongoing. No autopsy findings had been made public at the time of writing.

News of his death led to an outpouring of tributes from fans and colleagues, many recalling his warmth and his work for disability representation. Funeral arrangements had not been announced.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, in the United States call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Roy Frank Mitte III was born on August 21, 1992, in Jackson, Mississippi. He was delivered by emergency caesarean and was not breathing at birth, which left him with a permanent brain injury. A few weeks later he was adopted by Roy Frank Mitte Jr. and Dyna Mitte, who later separated.

He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of three. Doctors put his legs in casts for six months to straighten his feet, and he wore leg braces and used crutches through much of his childhood. Sport and exercise made him stronger, and by his teens he no longer needed walking aids.

Mitte was raised mainly by his mother. After she became paralyzed, he took financial responsibility for the family at 13, including his younger sister, Lacianne Carriere. In 2006 the family moved to Los Angeles when his sister was offered work in a film production. He also had longstanding family ties to Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where his grandfather had been a basketball coach.

After working as an extra, including on the Disney series Hannah Montana, Mitte took acting lessons and was cast as Walter White Jr., also known as Flynn, in Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad. The character, like Mitte, had cerebral palsy. He appeared across all five seasons from 2008 to 2013, playing the son of Bryan Cranston and Anna Gunn's characters in what became one of the most acclaimed dramas in television history.

He starred in the short horror film Stump (2011), executive produced the documentary Vanished: The Tara Calico Story, and appeared in House of Last Things. In 2014 he joined Switched at Birth in a recurring role as Campbell, a premed student who used a wheelchair after a snowboarding accident. His later screen work included The Recall (2017), Time Share (2018), Standing Up for Sunny (2019), The Oak Room (2020), Triumph (2021), which he executive produced, and the Netflix animated series The Guardians of Justice (2022), in which he played Mind Master.

Outside acting he modeled for a Gap campaign in 2014, walked the runway for Vivienne Westwood in 2015, appeared in music videos for Hollywood Undead and Nothing but Thieves, and was a presenter for Channel 4's coverage of the 2016 Rio Paralympics. At the time of his death he was promoting a new film, Talking to Strangers, and had several projects in development.

Mitte spoke openly about cerebral palsy, bullying and disability throughout his public life. The Screen Actors Guild named him its spokesman for actors with disabilities, and he represented Inclusion in the Arts and Media of Performers with Disabilities. He became a celebrity ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy in 2015 and also served as an ambassador for Shriners Children's. He was president of the Mitte Foundation, his own charity, and was named an ambassador for the World Boxing Council after a chance meeting with Julio Cesar Chavez in Brownsville.

In 2023 he shared that he had been in a relationship with Kennedy Suarez since 2018, and in October 2025 he announced their engagement.

Mitte is remembered as one of the most visible actors with a disability of his generation. Casting a performer with cerebral palsy to play a character with cerebral palsy, in a show watched around the world, was itself a statement about authentic representation, and Mitte spent the rest of his career building on it through advocacy, charity work and public speaking. His SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award in 2013, and the RJ Mitte Diversity Award presented in his name, reflect that legacy.