Found dead in Stroumboulopoulos's L.A. home, actor Richard Hong remembered by classmates, family
Montrealers who grew up with Richard Hong remember him as a "rambunctious" student who loved music, basketball and hanging out at Dunkin' Donuts.
The actor was found dead Friday morning in the Los Angeles home of his friend, Canadian broadcaster George Stroumboulopoulos.
Police are treating Hong's death as a homicide. Stroumboulopoulos was in New York at the time of Hong's death.
Hong's sister, Virginia, posted a short eulogy on Facebook about her brother, calling him a "pure and free loving spirit."
'A good guy'
Hong, 41, graduated from Montreal's Lower Canada College — a private elementary school and high school with about 800 students in Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce — in the early 1990s.
But his school friends admit that they haven't had much contact with the Los Angeles transplant in recent years. Hong had been living in Los Angeles and working as an actor.
Philip Lassner, a classmate of Hong in elementary school and high school, remembered him for his love of music and rap.
"He was a good guy. A fun guy," Lassner said, adding the two were in band class together.
According to Hong's Facebook profile, he went on to study at Dawson College, then Concordia University, before pursuing acting in Los Angeles.
The LAPD believe Hong died of blunt force trauma. Witnesses told police that a man was seen fleeing the area.
Police are still looking for the suspect.
In social media posts on Friday, Stroumboulopoulos described Hong as a "dear friend" and said he decided to return to Los Angeles after learning of his friend's death.
