'American Horror Story' Actor Harry Hains Dies at 27
Actor Harry Hains has died at the age of 27, according to an Instagram post shared by his mother, actress Jane Badler, on Jan. 7. Hains is best known for small roles on popular TV series like “American Horror Story,” “The OC” and “Sneaky Pete.”
“On Jan 7 my beautiful son died,” Badler shared on Instagram. “He was 27 and had the world at his feet . But sadly he struggled with mental illness and addiction . A brilliant spark shone bright too short a time .. I will miss you Harry every day of my life.”
Badler did not share a cause of death, but said Hains struggled with his mental health and addiction. Hains told the U.K. outlet Boys by Girls in March he struggled with a sleep disorder as a child, which led to other struggles with his mental health.
“Growing up I had a very serious sleeping disorder called Idiopathic Insomnia,” Hains said. “I couldn’t sleep for my entire childhood until I started taking sleeping pills at twelve/thirteen. So I was tortured by sleep deprivation and I had a lot of phobias. It affected me in a very severe way as a child.”
Fans, friends and colleagues reacted to Hains’ death on social media and shared condolences.
Just found out the unfortunate news that one of my actors from my last feature @chasemoviereal passed away. Harry Hains was only 27 and my heart goes out to his family and loved ones #RIP #harryhains pic.twitter.com/tRfCJvhQqp
— Michael Matteo Rossi (@MichaelMatteoRo) January 9, 2020
Mental illness is so real, so sad and a disease. Breaks my heart for #AmericanHorrorStory actor #HarryHains https://t.co/5gWSgUH8if ???????? pic.twitter.com/VWKJ81Q803
— Jay Michaels (@jaymichaels13) January 10, 2020
My heart is heavy today. Another bright light gone too soon. https://t.co/yT69giaQFZ
— Jeffrey Reddick (@JeffreyaReddick) January 9, 2020
Header image via Harry Hains’ Facebook page
Renée Fabian was the features editor at The Mighty. She has also written for The Washington Post, VICE, Healthline, Talkspace, The Fix, The Establishment, The Culture Trip, and GRAMMY.com, among others. Renée was named a 2019 AHCJ Comparative Effectiveness Research fellow, a 2020 USC Center for Health Journalism California fellow, and holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @ryfabian.
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