David Gordon Strickland Jr. (October 14 1969 - March 22 1999) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as the boyish rock music reporter Todd Stites in the NBC sitcom Suddenly Susan (starring Brooke Shields). He suffered from bipolar disorder and committed suicide at the age of 29.

His earlier TV roles during the 1990s include Dave's World , Roseanne, Sister Sister and Mad World. He also co-starred in the film Forces of Nature (starring Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock) which had just opened in US cinemas at the time of his death.

Strickland had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. He was arrested in October 1998 for the possession of cocaine, pleaded no contest in December and was sentenced to 36 months probation and ordered into rehabilitation. He was due in court on the day of his death for a progress report.

News reports of events leading up to his death suggest that he had chosen to stop taking the lithium he was prescribed to control his bipolar disorder, and that he spent the last three days of his life on an alcohol and drug binge with a friend, actor Andy Dick.

Strickland checked in to the Oasis Motel, Las Vegas during the early hours of Monday March 22. He consumed several bottles of beer and then hanged himself with a bed sheet over the ceiling beam. His dangling lifeless body was discovered by a maid.

He left no note, and no evidence of drugs was found in the room. The Clark County coroner's report stated that his body bore the marks of a previous suicide attempt.

At the time of his death he was romantically linked with Tiffani-Amber Thiessen.

External Links

• Find A Death - David Strickland