An actor who starred in one of the most classical Christmas movies of all time died just two years after its release.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas is an all-time festive favourite and an adaptation of the beloved children’s tale by Dr. Seuss.
The film – which came out in 2000 – sees the reclusive Grinch (played by Jim Carrey) hell-bent on ruining Christmas for the cheery citizens of Whoville.
Alongside his dog Max, the Grinch comes down from his mountaintop home to mess up the most wonderful time of the year.
Though things take an unexpected turn when he encounters a young girl named Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen).
Fans of the film will remember seeing flashbacks of a young Grinch at school, played by Josh Ryan Evans.
The 3ft 2 actor was born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, and also suffered from heart problems, resulting in multiple surgeries as a child.
While recovering from the operations, Evans spent much of his time watching TV and eventually got into acting at the age of 12.
Josh Ryan Evans featured in How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Maury Phillips/WireImage)
His role as a young Grinch had him spend five and a half hours in the makeup chair. However, he enjoyed the process and got along with director Ron Howard, who said the role was supposed to be a small walk-on part but changed after he met Evans.
Howard said: “Evans generated a lot of heart for the story.”
As well as his role in How The Grinch Stole Christmas, he was also largely known for his role of Timmy Lenox in the soap opera Passions, and was cast as living doll.
It’s the show which landed him a Hollywood Reporters’ YoungStar Award for ‘Best Young Actor in a Daytime TV Series.’
Sadly, after reaching stardom in 2002, he passed away suddenly aged 20 from complications related to his heart condition during a medical procedure.
On the day that Evans died, NBC also aired an episode of Passions, where his character also dies.
Josh Ryan Evans as a young Grinch (Universal Pictures)
However, the episode had been filmed weeks in advance, with plans for his character to return later on in the series, but this was scrapped following his death.
The episode was instead dedicated to his memory.
Passions co-star Juliet Mills, who played a witch named Tabitha Lenox, told Soaps Digest in 2007 that Evans was a ‘showbiz kid through and through’.
“That’s what he loved more than anything — showbiz. It was a legendary thing to do [to die the same day as his character did on screen].
“He made a big bang when he went.”
