Ben Best obit

Ben Best, Eastbound & Down co-creator and actor, dies at 46

 

 He was not on the list.

Ben Best, best known as the co-creator of the HBO series Eastbound & Down, has died. He was 46. The news was confirmed by Eastbound & Down's production company Rough House Pictures, who posted a picture of Best on Instagram. Currently, no cause of death for Best has been confirmed.

"It's with heavy hearts we say goodbye to our good buddy Ben Best. We lost him the day before he would have turned 47," Rough House Pictures wrote in a caption. "A hell of a friend and a creative force. He inspired us and made us laugh. Charming and hilarious. Gone way too soon. We love and miss you.

Best, who also played the character of Clegg on the show, created and wrote Eastbound & Down with his writing partners Jody Hill and Danny McBride. McBride also starred alongside Best as Kenny Powers, Clegg's longtime friend and former professional baseball pitcher.

Prior to creating Eastbound & Down, Best and McBride teamed up on a number of projects including MTV Films' 2006 indie cult comedy The Foot Fist Way. In 2011, Best penned the 2011 period comedy Your Highness starring McBride, James Franco, and Natalie Portman.

As an actor, Best appeared in films such as Superbad, What Happens in Vegas, Observe and Report, and Land of the Lost. Seth Rogan, who worked with Best in Superbad, paid tribute to his costar in a tweet, writing, "I'm honored I got work with him, and even more so and that I got to hang out with him and just be in his company." He asked his followers to watch Foot Fist Way in his honor "and bask in his genius."