The actor Ron Lester, best known for his role as Billy Bob in the 1999 film Varsity Blues, died on Friday evening.
Lester's agent David Bradley confirmed the actor's death to Entertainment Weekly, saying that the cause was liver and kidney failure. According to TMZ, Lester had been hospitalized for four months in the Dallas area.
The actor also had a recurring role between 1999 and 2001 as Michael "Sugar Daddy" Bernadino on the television show Popular, as well as roles on Freaks and Geeks, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and CSI: NY.
At his largest, Lester weighed over 500 pounds. He had gastric bypass surgery to remove the weight, which turned out to be a mixed blessing. While it may have saved his life, the surgery also killed his career by ensuring he could no longer get cast as what a 2014 Grantland profile about the aftermath of the surgery called "the funny fat guy."
Tributes to Lester poured in on social media after his death was announced.
Some people even noticed an eerie parallel to the day's other celebrity death, Prince Be of PM Dawn.
