The former child actor Rory Callum Sykes has died in the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.
READ MORE: Entertainment world reacts to “heart-wrenching” Los Angeles wildfires
The star of the Australian show Kiddy Kapers was at his home in Malibu on Wednesday (January 8) when he died. He was 32 years old.
The news was confirmed by his mother Shelley Sykes, who starred alongside him in the reality show. “It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of my beautiful son @RorySykes to the Malibu fires yesterday,” she wrote on X.
It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of my beautiful son @Rorysykes to the Malibu fires yesterday. I’m totally heart broken. British born Australian living in America, a wonderful son, a gift born on mine & his grandmas birthday 29 July 92, Rory Callum… pic.twitter.com/X77xyk83gx
— Shelley Sykes (@shelleysykes) January 9, 2025
Sykes, who was born blind and with cerebral palsy, had gained prominence in recent years as a video game streamer and had recently relocated from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles.
His mother continued that Rory was living in a cottage on his family’s Malibu estate when the fires ravaged the property. “I couldn’t put out the cinders on his roof with a hose because the water was switched off by Las Virgenes Municipal Water,” she noted. “Even the 50 brave firefighters had no water all day.”
The wildfires broke out on January 7 and have claimed the lives of 11 people to date, with nearly 180,000 residents having evacuated their homes and over 13,400 structures sustaining damages.
Among those affected are Paris Hilton, who watched her home burn down on television, as well as James Woods, Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes and Mark Hamill.
Heroes and This Is Us actor Milo Ventimiglia also choked up during a live interview while discussing watching his own house burn down, while a fundraiser for DIIV frontman Zachary Cole Smith was launched after his house succumbed to the fires. Mel Gibson‘s house was another victim of the fires, with the actor revealing that it burned down while he was recording his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
A benefit concert for the victims has been announced. Dubbed FireAid, it will take place at LA’s Intuit Dome on January 30, with proceeds going to the rebuild program and to displaced families. No line-up has currently been announced.
The post Former child star Rory Callum Sykes dies in Los Angeles wildfires, aged 32 appeared first on NME.
