On April 23, 2015, Sawyer Storm Sweeten passed away in Austin, Texas. He was nineteen and only a few weeks away from turning twenty. In a careful, heartbreaking statement, his sister Madylin confirmed the death: “This morning a terrible family tragedy has occurred.” According to his family, he committed suicide. When it occurred, he was on the front porch of the family’s Texas home while other family members were inside. Those close to him reported that he had appeared upbeat and forward-thinking in the days prior, and he left no note that was made public. One of the more difficult facts to accept is the lack of obvious warning indicators.

Like most child actors, Sawyer’s rise to fame was completely out of his control, but it felt especially noticeable with Sawyer and his twin brother Sullivan. When the twins were six months old, their mother took them to Los Angeles. Before they could say anything, they were cast on Everybody Loves Raymond. During its nine seasons, which ran from 1996 to 2005, the show—which was based on Ray Romano’s stand-up observations about suburban New York family life—became one of the most popular sitcoms on American television. Alongside their real-life sister Madylin, who portrayed the elder daughter Ally, Sawyer and Sullivan portrayed the Barone twins, Geoffrey and Michael. In a literal sense, the family dynamic on screen was an exact replica of their real family. Child actors negotiate this blurring of reality and fiction in ways that are rarely entirely apparent to the audience watching from living rooms.

Ray Romano expressed his shock and deep sadness upon hearing the news. Sawyer, he said, was “a wonderful and sweet kid to be around” and had “just a great energy whenever he was there.”The boys’ on-screen mother, Patricia Heaton, described him as “a funny and exceptionally bright young man” who had “gone from us far too soon.” Brad Garrett, who played Uncle Robert, a boisterous and unlucky figure in the Barone home, sent his condolences to a family he said had been his own family for nine years. The show’s creator, Phil Rosenthal, recalled the Sweeten kids as children who “never failed to make us laugh, or remind us of how we feel about our own children.” These tributes were written by people who had witnessed Sawyer grow up in the unique, uncommon way that television sets permit: surrounded by adults, filmed on a schedule, and present for a sizable chunk of childhood.

The public record is largely silent about Sawyer’s post-show demise in 2005. After Everybody Loves Raymond ended, he did not take on any more acting roles, according to his IMDb profile. When the cameras stopped filming, he would have been ten years old. Later on, he lived in Riverside, California, with his twin brother Sullivan. Perhaps this is why there isn’t much information available about the years between the show’s conclusion and April 2015. He was no longer well-known. He was merely a young man attempting to start over after an unusual upbringing.

Looking back at this story ten years later, there’s a sense that the way the entertainment industry treats child actors—absorbing them completely during their productive years and then quietly releasing them into everyday life—creates a particular kind of dislocation that isn’t always discussed until something goes wrong. Although Sawyer’s case was unique in its specifics, it wasn’t unique in its broad outlines. Few people fully comprehend or prepare children for the shift from being a familiar face in 139 episodes of a cherished show to being a twenty-year-old navigating adulthood without a professional identity.
Four years after Sawyer passed away, a theater was built in his honor in 2019. The gesture was long-lasting and silent; it’s the kind of memorial that doesn’t attract large crowds but has meaning for those who are close enough to see it. In the days following her brother’s passing, Madylin posted on Facebook urging everyone to connect with their loved ones and let them know how much they mean. It was an uncomplicated, heartfelt request. It still seems to be the most straightforward guidance on what any of us can do with our time.

In the US, you can call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline if you or someone you know is having difficulties. You don’t need to be in a dire situation to get in touch.

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