Showbiz has always enjoyed a front-row seat to artistic rise and fall. But sometimes, even the unforgiving entertainment capital has to bow down to the cruel ways of fate. As Netflix gets its act together for one last ride into Stranger Things, Matthew Modine was seen carrying the weight of an irreparable loss. It is not the bittersweet farewell that looms at large for the Upside Down but the upside-down ways of the world that had him bidding adieu to his Full Metal Jacket co-star, and most importantly his friend, Kevyn Major Howard.

Modine penned a heartwarming tribute for Howard, carefully placed in a trip down memory lane.

Kevyn Major Howard, best known for his role as Rafterman in Full Metal Jacket, unfortunately, crossed the rainbow bridge on Friday in a Las Vegas hospital. As Hollywood mourned the loss of the legend, Matthew Modine stepped up on X to dedicate a beautiful homage to the one he shared the big screen with. “Rest in peace,” Modine wrote, seizing the opportunity to shed light on a lesser-known aspect of Howard’s Full Metal Jacket portrayal that led him to the US Marine Corps.

After Howard tasted fame with Stanley Kubrick’s project, plunging him into the US Marine Corps, he reportedly spent decades serving the nation. “Thank you for your dedication to others and to America,” the Stranger Things actor wrote with a heavy heart, wishing him peace for his afterlife. Howard shared a picture of the Lusthog Squad from the 1987 flick, alongside Howard, Sal Lopez, Gary Landon Mills, and Adam Baldwin, when they found a bit of warmth amidst the freezing 1985 winter. 

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Reality always finds a way through the glitz of showbiz, no matter how hard-hitting. As Matthew Modine leads fans through a heartfelt tribute, here is a closer look on Kevyn Major Howard’s life and the moments that led to his final curtain call.

Kevyn Major Howard, born in 1956 in Montreal, Quebec, moved to Los Angeles after college to pursue acting with his dual citizenship. With several movie and TV credits to his name, Howard appeared on the screen with the biggest names in Hollywood, including Frank Sinatra, Don Johnson, Mandy Patinkin, Clint Eastwood, and, of course, Matthew Modine in Full Metal Jacket. While Modine’s anecdote lets fans in on the lesser-known, Howard was also a celebrated headshot photographer after his retirement from acting.

According to TMZ, Howard passed away quietly on Friday in a Las Vegas hospital in the presence of his friends and family. Although the cause of his death has yet to be determined, his family revealed his respiratory struggles for weeks that led to his hospitalization. The outlet reports Modine was made aware of his passing right after the incident since they were friends through the years after Full Metal Jacket.

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