Kevin Clark, who played mouthy drummer Freddy Jones in the film School Of Rock, has died at the age of 32.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Clark had been cycling in the Avondale area of the city when he was hit by a car in the early hours of Wednesday.
He was found by paramedics and died in hospital.
The newspaper described the intersection as “notoriously dangerous” and said that, while the 20-year-old driver of the car was not arrested, police had issued citations.
It is nearly 20 years since Clark acted in the popular 2003 film about a layabout rock fan – played by Jack Black – who winds up teaching a class of children and turning them into a band.
Clark had started learning to play the drums as a five-year-old and got the part at the age of 12.
It was his only acting role but he continued with his music into adulthood, forming bands, writing songs and teaching children.
The Sun-Times said that he had just started a new band that had performed live for the first time last weekend.
“He told his bandmates just yesterday: ‘You know, this is finally the life I want to live. And we’re going to make it. You’re my musical family – my family – and we’re all going to make it’,” his mother Allison Clark told the newspaper.
Black posted photos on Instagram of himself with Clark in the film and more recently, writing that news of his death was “devastating”.
“Kevin is gone. Way too soon. Beautiful soul. So many great memories. Heartbroken. Sending love to his family and the whole School Of Rock community.”