Actor Buddy Duress Dead at 38 – E! Online

An actor’s life has tragically come to a close.

Buddy Duress—born Michael Stathis and known for his collaborations with the Safdie Brothers—has died. He was 38. 

Christopher Stathis confirmed to People that his brother died in November of “cardiac arrest from a drug cocktail.”

Born in Queens, New York, Duress made his acting debut in Benny and Josh Safdie‘s 2014 film Heaven Knows What. According to a 2017 SSense interview with the actor, Duress first met Josh the year before the film’s release soon after being released from Rikers Island for drug charges and after skipping out on a drug in-patient program.

A mutual friend introduced the two, and Duress was shortly thereafter cast in Heaven Knows What. He was eventually caught by police and was taken back to Riker’s Island where he remained while the film premiered at New York Film Festival. 

But as he put it to SSense, “You know, I still look back at it. If I had went to that program, I wouldn’t have been in Heaven Knows What, and I probably wouldn’t be an actor right now. That’s the honest truth.”