Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Ben Best, best-known for co-creating the HBO comedy Eastbound & Down, has died. He was 46.
The news was confirmed by Eastbound & Down‘s production company Rough House Pictures, which is run by his longtime writing partners, Danny McBride, and Jody Hill, as well as David Gordon Green. So far, no cause of death for Best has been shared.
“It’s with heavy hearts we say goodbye to our good buddy Ben Best. We lost him the day before he would have turned 47,” Rough House Pictures wrote on Instagram. “A hell of a friend and a creative force. He inspired us and made us laugh. Charming and hilarious. Gone way too soon. We love and miss you.”
Best created Eastbound & Down alongside McBride and Hill. The show starred McBride as Kenny Powers, a washed up former Major League Baseball pitcher who returns to his hometown to teach middle school physical education. The co-creator appeared in eight episodes of the series as Kenny’s confidant, a bartender named Clegg. The series aired for four seasons, from 2009 to 2013.
Prior to Eastbound & Down, Best, Hill, and McBride co-wrote and co-starred in The Foot Fist Way, a martial arts dark comedy that later gained a cult following. The film followed Fred Simmons (McBride), a Taekwondo teacher who avoids his personal troubles by unhealthily fixating on B movie action star Chuck “The Truck” Wallace (Best).
Best also appeared in films like Land of the Lost, Observe and Report, Superbad, and What Happens in Vegas.
Following the news of Best’s death, his previous collaborators took to social media to pay tribute, including former Superbad costar Seth Rogen.
“RIP Ben Best. I remember seeing him as Chuck The Truck in Foot Fist Way and thinking ‘I have to work with this man,'” Rogen tweeted. “I’m honored I got to work with him, and even more so that I got to hang out with him and just be in his company. Watch Foot Fist Way today and bask in his genius.”
