LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The death of 27-year-old actor Jonathan Brandis, who starred in two seasons of Steven Spielberg's "SeaQuest DSV," was a suicide, the county coroner's office said Monday.

Brandis, who died November 12, hanged himself, the coroner said.

Brandis started his career in commercials and on television, landing a recurring role on the soap "One Life to Live" at age 6. He also made guest appearances on "L.A. Law," "Who's the Boss?" and "Murder, She Wrote."

His film credits included the starring role in 1991's "The Neverending Story 2: The Next Chapter," the Rodney Dangerfield comedy "Ladybugs," and the martial arts comedy "Sidekicks" with Chuck Norris.

On November 12, 2003, Brandis died from injuries he suffered after hanging himself the previous day. He was 27 years old. According to his mother, he went out to dinner with friends, then they went back to his apartment at 650 South Detroit Street. His friends reported that he seemed to be agitated and pacing around quite a bit. He left the room, and approximately 15 minutes later, one of his friends went looking for him and found him hanging by a nylon rope in the second floor hallway of his building. His friends cut him down and called paramedics. Despite all efforts to revive him, he was later pronounced dead. The Los Angeles Police Department released a statement regarding his death:

On November 11, 2003, at about 11:40 p.m., a friend of Jonathan Brandis called police to report that the actor had attempted suicide at his apartment, located in the 600 block of Detroit Avenue. Paramedics from the Los Angeles Fire department responded and transported Brandis to Cedars Sinai Medical Center where he eventually died from his injuries. Brandis' death was announced by hospital staff on November 12, 2003, at about 2:45 p.m."^[1]

Brandis apparently did not leave a note of any kind. His family was devastated upon receiving news of his death. He had no known personal problems, except for the fact that he was usually quite hard on himself. According to his mother, he had no prior suicide attempts, drank socially and had quit smoking two years prior. Brandis's mother questioned whether his use of the acne drug Accutane may be to blame, citing that one of the clinical side effects was reported to cause psychosis and suicide although there is no conclusive evidence for this. In a People magazine article, friends were quoted as saying he was lonely and depressed about his lagging career. One friend admitted that Brandis drank heavily, and had even mentioned that he might kill himself. He was also said to be upset when his appearance in Hart's War, a role he hoped would be his comeback, was cut from the film.