Everyone wants to know about Yamato Renfro. The son of Brad Renfro, Yamato is a huge mystery up to this day.
Yamato lived with his mom in Japan, and it’s unclear how often Brad saw him. Although Brad had big dreams of moving them both to America and starting a real family, the dreams were never fulfilled.
Unfortunately, we do not have the answers you are probably looking for. But we can offer a detailed account of Brad’s life, the tragedy of his death, and what little the public knows about Yamato.
Who is Brad Renfro?
Brad Renfro was 11 when he had his first film debut starring in The Client.
He appeared in 21 films and received many awards.
Before he acted in The Client, he had no background in acting and lived with his grandma in a trailer park. He was chosen to play Mark Sway because the director of The Client wanted to find someone who had real experience to back up the emotions of the character.
But starting in the late 90s, he had a rough private life. This included arrests and drug treatment.
At 15 years old, he was charged and arrested for drug possession of cocaine and marijuana. By the time he was 18, he had been to rehab more than one time.
In August of 2000, he tried to steal a yacht. He was sentenced with criminal mischief and grand theft and put on probation, as well as having to pay for yacht repair and investigative costs.
When he violated his probation by drinking underage, and then again violated the next year for being publicly intoxicated and driving illegally, he was sent into a rehab treatment facility for three months.
He kept violating probation again and again, eventually spending ten days in jail for a DUI and attempted possession of heroin.
In 2007, a judge told him that if he violated his probation again more than twice, he may be sentenced to jail or a live-in rehab .
According to his cousin, Brad had started making positive strides in his life right before he died.
Who is Yamato Renfro?
Yamato Renfro is the unplanned child of Brad Renfro, listed in Brad’s obituary as “Y Renfro.”
Details about Yamato are kept hush hush to keep him out of the limelight and maintain his privacy.
Brad got to see his son for a bit before he died, as Yamato visited him in Tennessee.
Here is the excerpt from his obituary that mentoned Yamato:
Survivors: son, Y Renfro; father and step-mother, Mark and Kim Renfro; mother and step-father, Angel and Rick Olsen; paternal grandmother, Joanne Renfro; maternal grandmother, Judy Hurt; sister, Haley Rose Olsen; step-brother, Dane Hoffmeister; several aunts, uncles and cousins; special friends, Jesse Hasek and Matthew Earl.
When was he born? How old is he now?
Yamato Renfro was born in 2004. Yamato Renfro is 18 years old as of 2022.
Who is Yamato’s mother?
Yamato Renfro’s mother is “a friend he [Brad] had over there” (in Japan).
Brad Renfro considered marrying Yamato’s mother, thinking about bringing them to the United States and starting a family.
However, that dream never came to fruition due to his untimely, early death.
When did it come to light that Brad Renfro had a son?
It came to light that Brad Renfro had a son after his funeral.
How did Brad Renfro die?
Brad Renfro died of a heroin and morphine overdose.
There is an argument that Hollywood did not do enough to help Brad, and that the movies he shot, as well as the inappropriate attention he received, psychologically damaged him. He was frequently filmed shirtless from a young age and newspapers talked about his “sex appeal.”
As an adult, he told friends that he was born addicted to heroin and started the drug himself around the time he was 12 (roughly when he gained stardom). He first smoked pot at 9 and got drunk at 11.
At 13, he had a girlfriend multiple years older than him. Local girls followed him around when The Cure was being filmed and told him that they dreamed of waking up next to him.
Studio teachers are meant to protect children from emotionally unsafe scenes as well as tutor them. But the studio teacher for Apt Pupil let production go on for longer than minors were legally allowed to work each day.
Renfro always said, “It’s a miracle that I’m still alive.”
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