Charlie Balducci, 44, who starred in MTV’s reality series True Life in 2002, died in New York at the age of 44, TMZ reported. The television star was found unresponsive on the right side of his bed around 9 PM on July 25 after being last seen earlier that day at around 2 AM, and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene, according to the outlet. His cause of death is not yet known, but his mother told TMZ that his passing was unexpected since he wasn’t showing any signs of illness.
Here are five things you should know about Charlie.
1.) He appeared on the “I’m Getting Married” episode of True Life. He had cameras follow him around for four months as they documented the weeks leading up to the wedding with his fiancee at the time, Sabrina. The lovebirds were presented with the opportunity to be one of the three engaged couples featured on the show after a woman came up to Sabrina during a dress fitting and told her she and Charlie were “hysterical”, TMZ reported.
2.) His True Life appearance led to one of the most infamous rants on reality TV. Many viewers remember Charlie for an intense scene he had, which can be seen below, with the limo driver who was late in picking him up on his wedding day. He called the driver while standing outside in his white tux and angrily threatened him with shocking words that made TV history. “I will gut you like the piece of s**t you are” and “I’ll hunt you down like cattle” are some of the things he said while on the phone with him. In the end, Charlie still ended up being two hours late to the wedding.
3.) He’s the father of two sons. Charlie and Sabrina, who were married for a decade, share the two teenage boys who were 17 and 19 at the time of their father’s passing.
4.) In addition to his stint on True Life, he acted and started the nonprofit organization, NYC Arts Cypher. It’s a youth-oriented program that promotes positive values through arts and entertainment, which he talked about in the video below. “Charles Balducci is proud to be a Staten Islander,” his bio on the NYC Arts Cypher website reads. “Born in NYC, but raised on the Island Charles Balducci has been a pioneer in the arts and entertainment movement to establish Staten Island as a player in the arts and entertainment industry.”
5.) Some of his last words to his mother were about his sons. She told TMZ that the last time she saw him he talked about how happy he was to have them.
Our comfort and healing wishes go out to all those affected by Charlie’s death.