Benjamin Vereen Jr the eldest son of Tony Award-winning actor Ben Vereen has died at the age of 55, after two weeks he went missing.
Benjamin Vereen had been missing since 27th July and Vereen came to know about his son’s death on 8th August but it is unclear how he died after missing for two weeks.
Ben Vereen confirmed the death of his eldest son saying:
‘I am sorry to announce my son Benjamin A Vereen Jr., affectionately known as Benji passed away. Benji was a dancer and a choreographer with an extraordinary artistic talent and we will hold him in our hearts forever. Thank you to the public for loving my son.’
Benjamin Vereen Jr. was a dancer and choreographer and he wanted to go the same path as his father Ben Vereen and carried the same passion and love for art and dance which led him to the career of dance and performance.
The 73-year-old Broadway veteran Ben Vereen has been in the entertainment industry for more than 50 years and in the span of 50 years he has been doing theater, films and TV performances. He gave the unforgettable performance in Hair, Fosse, Chicago, Wicked, Jesus Christ Superstar and won the Tony Award for his leading role in the musical Pippin.
And in the television, he is famously known as the absent father of Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and he also starred in the episodes of Star Trek: The next generation, The Nanny, Grey’s Anatomy, Law and Order:Criminal Intent, NCIS and How I met your mother.
Death of Benjamin Vereen Jr. is not the first time that this family has had to endure. In 1987 his 16-year daughter Naja Vereen was killed. She was driving with her mother (Vereen ex-wife) Nancy Burner when the tractor-trailer overran their minivan on the New Jersey Highway ramp. Luckily Nancy survived this deadly accident. ‘Basically, it was an act of God that she wasn’t injured,’ said a state police spokeswoman at the time.
In 1992 Verren got through Three accidents in a day when his car was crashed into a tree after falling asleep behind the wheel, then he suffered the stroke on the Malibu Highway and was critically injured when he was struck by a car driven by composer and producer David Foster.point 346 |
His injuries were so critical that he was required to undergo physical rehabilitation for several months.point 90 | point 90 | 1
While talking to the media Vereen he concluded by asking to allow him and his family to mourn the death of his son privately.
Till now no details have been released regarding the death of Benjamin Vereen Jr. and leaves behind a wife and three children.