‘JAG’ Actor’s Death Investigated as Possible Suicide

Actor Trevor John Goddard, who had a recurring role on the television military drama “JAG,” was found dead in his North Hollywood home and may have committed suicide, the coroner’s office reported Monday.

Goddard, 37, was found by his girlfriend about noon Sunday, said Craig Harvey, spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

The preliminary investigation indicates the death was a “possible suicide by drug overdose,” Harvey said. The type of drugs involved have not been identified, pending an autopsy, which could take place today, Harvey said.

Some notes to family members were found at the actor’s home, but investigators were not disclosing their contents or characterizing them as suicide notes, Harvey said.

Besides his role as Lt. Cmdr. Michael “Mic” Brumby in “JAG,” he will appear in the upcoming Johnny Depp feature film “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

Friends and co-workers at “JAG” were stunned to hear of Goddard’s death.

“It’s a shock,” said the show’s creator and executive producer, Donald Bellisario. “He was always up and cheerful. I never saw him down or depressed. He was a terrific guy and a pleasure to work with.”

Goddard, a native of Australia, had appeared on other TV shows, including “Murphy Brown,” “Empty Nest” and “The Commish,” as well as in more than 20 movies.

In 1999, he was attacked by six men and beaten unconscious after he hit a man who was heckling a woman at a bar in Australia, according to his biography.

Goddard grew up on the “wrong side of the tracks,” in Perth, Australia, and fought his way out of there as a professional boxer, Bellisario said.

When he came to the United States, he was offered a job in a commercial that he gladly took because “it was better than getting smashed in the face,” he told Bellisario.

Goddard was separated from his wife, Ruthann, with whom he had two sons, Travis, 7, and Daniel, 4, said his attorney, Jennifer Rocco.