Tragic story of young The Grinch star who passed away on same night as his onscreen character

Josh Ryan Evans was an actor best known for playing the child version of the Grinch; little did people know he was actually an adult.

Josh suffered from a form of Dwarfism called achondroplasia, which gave him a child-like voice and 3ft 2 height; he did not let this hold him back from achieving such a fantastic, short-lived career.

As well as dwarfism, the actor was also born with a congenital heart condition, which ultimately caused his death at the young age of 20.

The Californian actor started his career at the age of 12, making appearances in several TV commercials.

He stole the hearts of many around the world as he played the young 8-year-old version of Jim Carrey’s The Grinch. Similar to Carrey, he also spent a long time in the makeup chair, telling the LA Times in 2000.

“I have had heart surgery three times, so I know what it was like to have pins and needles stuck in you.”

His mother, Cheryl, revealed she was very close to “pulling him” out after adding they were there for a lengthy time. “At one point, we were there 16 hours, and I was ready to pull him.”

“Then Ron said, ‘Action,’ and he just came to life.”

In 1999, he portrayed the character Timmy in the TV soap Passions; he famously played a doll that came to life after the evil witch Tabitha Lenox (Juliet Mills) brought to life with magic.

His outstanding performance earned him several awards, including Best Performance in a Soap Opera and Best Young Actor Performance.

Eerily, after his character Timmy on Passions passed away that same night, Josh himself did, too, although it’s worth noting that the TV soap had been taped a month before.

His character had passed away after a battle with a zombie, and in future episodes, his heart was to be donated, but executives decided to scrap any future scenes involving the actor.

Given that Josh himself had passed away from complications whilst undergoing surgery for his congenital heart condition on August 5th 2002, it was an incredibly odd coincidence.

He was later cremated with his ashes kept at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.