RJ Mitte Through the Years: 'Breaking Bad' Actor's Life in Photos Following His Death at 34

RJ Mitte, who began his Hollywood career in his mid-teens, died at the age of 34.

In a statement to a news outlet, a representative for Mitte confirmed the actor by suicide at his Brownsville, Texas, home on October 12.

The Brownsville Police Department said officers found Mitte dead at the property after responding to a call at approximately 12:50 p.m. local time. Brownsville Justice of the Peace Cyndi Hinojosa pronounced the Breaking Bad actor dead at 1:32 p.m. and said the official cause and manner of death would remain undetermined pending an autopsy.

Read on for a look back at Mitte's memorable life and career following his death.

Mitte was born in Jackson, Miss., on August 21, 1992. Following his parents' separation, his mother raised him between Austin, Texas, and Lafayette, La.

"My parents got divorced when I was nine months old, and my father would only pop in and see me once a year, if that," he shared in a 2016 interview. "I don't have much contact with him. He remarried when I was quite young and they had their own little family. He does his own thing. We are kind of estranged. But I don't feel like he's missing from my life. My mother and I are extremely close and we still live together, along with my 12-year-old sister, Lacey."

He took on significant family responsibilities at a young age after his mother was paralyzed for six months following a car accident, which occurred shortly after his younger sibling was born.

"There's a 12-year gap between us and her dad wasn't really around, so I guess I was a bit of a father figure to her as well as a brother," he said. "I changed her diapers, made up her bottles, fed her, rocked her, bathed her - everything, I did it."

Describing what his childhood looked like, Mitte revealed his grandparents would "take [him] out fishing in their boat once a week" from when he was about two or three.

"I loved it. The biggest fish I ever caught was a 1,200lb marlin – but you name it, and I've caught it. I don't get to go out as much these days, but I still enjoy it when I do. I find it calming," he recalled.

Mitte learned he was adopted at age 8 after his stepbrother told him about a conversation he had overheard between their parents. Although he occasionally considered finding his biological parents, he reportedly never made it a priority and decided to focus on other aspects of his life instead.

"I've got so many other problems that trying to find my biological parents is not something that I want to deal with right now," he continued in the 2016 interview. "It's not a priority ... unless they're loaded. If they're loaded and deceased, and I'm in a will somewhere, I'm all for it. Or if they're part of the royal family, that would be pretty rad, too. Other than that, I don't really care."

Growing up with cerebral palsy, Mitte initially believed that occupational and speech therapy were "common things."

"I thought I was quite normal until I went to school and someone told me it wasn't normal to have a disability. That was shocking to me," he expressed. I asked my mom, why did this happen, why am I affected this way? She told me, and we moved on. You have to accept what can't be fixed, and live for today like there's not going to be a tomorrow."

Mitte told the Associated Press in 2014 that his experiences living with cerebral palsy and undergoing treatments helped him become a better actor.

"You develop a different mentality, and you develop a different look at how the world sees you and how you see the world," he shared. "You're able to use that. And I think it's an asset instead of something that would hinder."

In a 2016 interview with Vice, he revealed he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was 3 years old.

Mitte began pursuing an acting career after moving to Los Angeles at around 12 or 13 years old.

"I started acting to meet kids my own age," he told Vice in a 2016 interview.

By age 13, Mitte had become the "main breadwinner" for his family, taking on acting jobs to help cover their expenses.

"I started off working as an extra, and I had to keep getting jobs to pay the bills," he shared with The Guardian. "It evolved into a career very quickly. I think that accident changed our lives. It changed the dynamics of my relationship with my sister. Lacey is my baby, my little girl. We are still very close."

After relocating to the City of Angels in 2006, Mitte landed small roles in sitcoms, including Everybody Hates Chris and Hannah Montana.

His breakthrough came in 2007 when he was cast as Walter "Flynn" White Jr. in Breaking Bad, which aired from 2008 to 2013.

Following the series' success, Mitte continued building his career with appearances in films such as House of Last Things, Dixieland, The Recall, Standing Up for Sunny, The Oak Room and Triumph. His television credits also included Switched at Birth, Vegas, Now Apocalypse and The Guardians of Justice.

Beyond acting, Mitte expanded his career behind the scenes by taking on producing roles in several independent films.

He served as an executive producer on Triumph, in which he also starred alongside Terrence Howard. He later earned producing credits for The Unseen in 2023 and Love Me Dead in 2024.

Mitte also had a brief modeling career after signing with Elite Model Management in 2014.

In June 2015, he made his runway debut at Milan Men's Fashion Week, walking for Vivienne Westwood's Spring/Summer 2016 collection.

Mitte's condition inspired him to become a dedicated disability rights advocate, serving as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children's. He also served as president of the Mitte Foundation, which his grandparents founded in 1994.

"I'm lucky that I can be an advocate. I'm lucky that I can do what I do and talk to the people I get to talk to,” he told Vice. "I think we all have an obligation to have an impact for the positive."

Mitte was in a longtime relationship with Kennedy Suarez, whom he had known for more than a decade before their friendship turned romantic.

They began dating around 2020. Five years later, Mitte proposed on Suarez's 30th birthday during the 56th Annual Dia del Sol benefit event, which was held to benefit United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of San Diego.

They lived together in Brownsville, Texas, and remained engaged at the time of Mitte's death.

A representative for Mitte announced his death in a statement, confirming the actor died October 12 in Brownsville, Texas.

"It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of beloved actor, philanthropist, and passionate disability rights advocate RJ Mitte," the statement read. "Drawing from his own experience living with cerebral palsy, Mitte brought authenticity to the role and built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion."