Celebrity
Ron Lester dead at 45: Actor played Billy Bob in ‘Varsity Blues’ movie
Celebrity deaths in 2016
Ron Lester, left, appears in a scene from “Varsity Blues” with Paul Walker, right.
“Varsity Blues” actor Ron Lester is dead, according to multiple reports. He was 45.
His agent Dave Bradley said he died Friday with his fiancee by his side after four months in the hospital with liver and kidney problems. He was not in pain, according to Variety.
Lester is best known for playing lovable football player Billy Bob, who had a pet pig named Bacon, in the 1999 film “Varsity Blues” with Paul Walker and James Van Der Beek. Lester also appeared in “Not Another Teen Movie,” “Good Burger,” “Popular” and “Freaks and Geeks.”
“Am I alive? Yes. Am I happy? No. Did I throw away my career to be skinny? Yes,” he told the publication in 2014. “I wouldn’t do [the surgery] again. I would much rather have died happy, rich, and kept my status and gone out on top.”
The Georgia native, who was living in Dallas, most recently completed the faith-based NASCAR film “Racing Legacy.” He wrote, co-directed and starred in the 2015 indie movie.
