Death of Jeff Baena: the coroner confirms the suicide by hanging of the American director

The medical examiner’s reports can only confirm the suicide trail. According to the American media Us Weekly American director Jeff Baena was found hanging at his home in Los Angeles on Friday January 3. He was only 47 years old. It was his assistant who made the macabre discovery, before alerting the firefighters and the police who could only note the death, reports BFMTV. The filmmaker left a letter explaining his action. Its contents remain confidential for the moment, but sources close to the family say he was battling deep depression.

Jeff Baena was, since 2021, married to the American actress Audrey Plaza. He had met the star of the television series Parks & Recreations (2009) et The White Lotus (2021) ten years earlier, in 2011. His career as a director was marked by the success of Life after Beth (2014) with his partner, John C. Reilly and Dane DeHaan in the lead. But also Bachelor party (2016), Horse Girl (2020) with Alison Brie, and Spin Me Round (2022) with, again, Audrey Plaza and Alison Brie in the cast.

Assistant to Robert Zemeckis and David O.Russell

The Miami native began his career as a production assistant alongside directors Robert Zemeckis and David O. Russell. He thus co-signed with the latter the script for the psychological comedy J’adore Huckabees (2004)which notably features Jason Schwarzman, Dustin Hoffman, Naomi Watts and Jude Law.

 

« Jeff, we will miss your wit, your humor and your bold vision”

Sundance Festival on X

On social networks, the Sundance festival, for which Jeff Baena presented several of his films, paid him a final tribute. « We are grateful for sharing his stories and contributing to the lasting memories we have built togetherhe wrote on X. Jeff, we will miss your wit, humor and bold vision. » Actress Alison Brie, for her part, published a photo with the caption « Rest in peace my friend ».

Documents shared by Us Weekly indicate that an autopsy has been carried out and that the body can thus be returned to his family. It is also mentioned that the investigation remains open.