‘Talladega Nights’ child actor Houston Tumlin dead at 28

quote:

---

Houston Tumlin, left, and Grayson Russell

A former child star best known for playing Will Ferrell’s son in “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” is dead at age 28.

Shelby County Coroner Lina Evans said Houston Tumlin was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Authorities responded to Tumlin’s Chase Creek Circle home just after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. He had only lived in Pelham for about three months.

Tumlin was born in Pell City in 1992. He graduated in 2011 from Victory Christian High School. He went on to serve in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell.

His only film was the 2006 comedy “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” in which he played Walker.

He and Grayson Russell, who played Walker’s younger brother Texas Ranger, had memorable scenes at the family dinner table with Ferrell, John C. Reilly (as Cal Naughton Jr.), Leslie Bibb (as the boys’ mother Carley) and Ted Manson (as the boys’ grandfather Chip).

---