Broadway and West End Star Chris Peluso Mysteriously Dies at 40 Years Old

It surprised everyone when Broadway and West End star Chris Peluso died on Aug. 15, 2023, at just 40 years old. Known for his roles in the 2004 revival of Assassins, Elton John’s Lestat, and as the three leading males in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Chris was taken too soon from the world and his family.

Now, theater fans everywhere are wondering what happened to the prolific performer. When he relocated to London, where he lived with his wife, Jessica Gomes, he also starred in The Woman in White, Death Takes a Holiday, Show Boat, and Miss Saigon. But less than a year after Chris went into treatment for schizoaffective disorder, he suddenly died. What was his cause of death?

Upon hearing of his death, news outlets are trying to find a correlation between Chris’s in-patient treatment for schizoaffective disorder and his death. However, without a cause of death, there’s no confirmation that the two are related. His struggles with mental health first came to light because of a GoFundMe created by his friends and fellow West End actors Rebecca LaChance and Tim Oxbrow.

“For anyone who knows him personally, Chris is a funny, kind, and caring friend, as well as a devoted dad to Peety, his beloved King Charles Cavalier, who sadly died last year,” they wrote in September 2022. “But as many probably don't know, Chris suffers from schizoaffective disorder. This diagnosis has resulted in Chris experiencing debilitating paranoia, which has kept him from performing in recent years.

“As well as affecting his capacity to work in the field he built his career in over the last 18 years, Chris's mental health has affected every aspect of his life. In recent months, the paranoia has consumed him to the extent that he is unable to work any job and has had to leave his wife and young child and return to America to seek treatment. Chris has no health care insurance in the US and was recently hospitalized for about two weeks. Currently, he is seeking treatment at an inpatient mental health rehabilitation center.”

In November, they provided an update from Chris: “I’m very pleased to say that I completed the in-patient treatment facility in Tennessee and have been stable and doing well! The new medication I’m on works well to keep my symptoms in check and has minimal side effects. I’m able to hold down a job again and even began taping some auditions. It’s going to be a lifelong process of going to therapy and working with doctors but I’m so much better than I was before treatment.”

Even still, Chris has been MIA on social media since January 2021, and although he had a new 5-month-old son, hinting that he was able to return to his normal life, it’s unclear what happened after his treatment.

Whatever Chris’s cause of death may be, we’re sending our deepest condolences to his friends, family, and fans.