Christian Cousins, who starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop as a child, has died at the age of 43.
Christian Cousins, the former child star who appeared in Kindergarten Cop with Arnold Schwarzenegger, has died at the age of 43. His half-brother, Jonas Roeser, shared the news in a heartfelt Instagram post on October 22. According to Roeser, Cousins had been battling liver disease.
“It’s hard to share that my brother, Christian Cousins, has passed away,” he wrote.
A brother he met later in life
In the post Roeser explained that he and Cousins share the same biological father, but grew up apart.
“Christian and his twin brother, Joseph ‘Joey’ Cousins, are my brothers through my biological father. They grew up in California while I was in Washington and I didn’t get to know them until I was in college,” he wrote.
Before they met, he knew them from TV.
“I grew up watching them on television in Knots Landing and the lead role of Dominic in Kindergarten Cop with Arnold Schwarzenegger,” he said.
But Roeser stressed that those roles were “only a small part” of who his brother was. “He was a character, full of passion and energy, with big stories and even bigger dreams,” he shared.
He added that Cousins “had been very sick” before he died. “It brings me comfort to believe he is now in heaven with his mother, free from the pain he was carrying,” Roeser wrote. “Rest easy, Christian. I hope your soul is at rest and that you’ve found peace. You are my brother and you will be missed.”
Twins who shared their roles
Christian and Joey were born on March 17, 1983, in Orange County, California. Like many twin child actors, they often shared the same role.
Their first big part came in 1987, when they began playing Bobby Ewing, the son of Gary and Val Ewing, on the hit soap Knots Landing. Christian appeared in 57 episodes of the show until 1992.
In 1990, the twins landed their best-known role as Dominic in Kindergarten Cop, the son of a dangerous drug dealer, whom Schwarzenegger’s undercover detective protects. The comedy became one of the biggest hits of the year, grossing about $202 million worldwide.
They also appeared in shows such as Highway to Heaven and Empty Nest, and in the horror film Critters 3, before stepping away from acting in the mid-1990s.
Joey later returned as Bobby in the 1997 reunion miniseries Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac.
Read more:
