RJ Mitte, ‘Breaking Bad’ Actor and Disability Advocate, Dies at 34

RJ Mitte, the actor who rose to fame as Walter White Jr. on AMC’s “Breaking Bad” and became one of Hollywood’s most visible advocates for people with disabilities, has died at 34.

Cameron County Justice of the Peace Cyndi Hinojosa said she declared Mitte dead at 1:32 p.m. Monday at what she believed was his home in Brownsville, Texas, where he had recently moved. Brownsville police said no foul play was suspected and that an investigation was ongoing.

His representatives announced the death in a statement, describing Mitte as a “beloved actor, philanthropist, and passionate disability rights advocate” and asking for privacy for his family. In a tribute posted Monday night, his on-screen father, Bryan Cranston, said Mitte had died by suicide.

“I’ll miss you, son”

“I’m in deep despair as I write this tonight,” Cranston wrote, recalling meeting Mitte when he was 14 and cast as Walter White Jr. He said the young actor, who was born with cerebral palsy, “never – ever – allowed that challenge to be an excuse for anything,” and noted the two had been texting just weeks earlier about meeting for lunch. “I’ll miss you, son,” he wrote.

Dean Norris, who played DEA agent Hank Schrader on the series, said he was “heartbroken,” recalling that he had always looked out for Mitte on set.

A role drawn from life

Mitte was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 3, and his character shared the condition, a choice that brought rare authenticity to the portrayal of disability on prime-time television. He appeared in 56 of the show’s 62 episodes during its run from 2008 to 2013 and shared in a Screen Actors Guild Award with the ensemble cast.

In 2013 he received the SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award recognizing advocacy for performers with disabilities. He served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s and as president of The Mitte Foundation, a Texas nonprofit founded by his family.

Career beyond “Breaking Bad”

After the series ended, Mitte appeared in ABC Family’s “Switched at Birth,” the 2020 horror film “The Oak Room” and the 2021 drama “Triumph,” in which he played a high school wrestler with cerebral palsy. At the time of his death he had been promoting a new film, “Talking to Strangers.”

“I think we all have an obligation to have an impact for the positive,” Mitte said in a 2016 interview with Vice.