Actor Buddy Duress died in Nov. 2023, but his death and the cause were only revealed on March 7, 2024. According to The New York Times, Duress’s death announcement was delayed because his mother was ill, and because Duress had not acted much in the final few years of his life.
Audiences knew Duress, who was 38 when he died, for such films as Heaven Knows What and Good Time, also starring Robert Pattinson. Both were early Safdie brothers’ films, and Good Time was adapted from Duress’ prison journal, People reported. He also starred alongside Michael Cera in the 2017 feature film Person to Person.
Duress, whose given name was Michael Stathis, was born in Queens, NY, and had a long history of substance use issues and legal problems before he got into acting, and was in and out of jail several times throughout his life. Duress was serving a sentence in Rikers Island on drug-related charges when Heaven Knows What premiered at the New York Film Festival in 2017.
That same year, however, Duress, who counted comedian Pete Davidson among his fans, seemed like he turned a corner. Duress said, “I’m done with the drugs, man. I want to get the f**k out of [jail], get on with my life and keep acting.”
Buddy Duress died from cardiac arrest
But according to The Times, his brother said Buddy Duress died from cardiac arrest, with a “cocktail of drugs” including heroin, contributing. Duress was set to return to acting in 2024 in director Jay Karales’ upcoming short films Skull and Mass State Lottery. When Duress’ death was announced, Karales shared a statement on X and told People,
“Buddy Duress was a once-in-a-lifetime charismatic actor and a genuinely humble man that left an impression on everyone he met. I was extremely fortunate to be able to direct him and get to know him off-set during our time shooting Mass State Lottery.”
via People
Duress’s mom, Jo-Anne Stathis, and his younger brother, Christopher Stathis, survive him.
