Actor Christian Oliver, who appeared in films including 2008′s “Speed Racer” and 2006′s “The Good German,” died Thursday in a plane crash that also claimed the lives of his two daughters and the plane’s pilot, authorities said. He was 51.
Oliver, whose real name was Christian Klepser, was onboard a small aircraft with his daughters, 10-year-old Madita and 12-year-old Annik, when it crashed into the sea near Petit Nevis in the Grenadines, according to the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force. Also on board was the plane’s pilot and owner, Robert Sachs.
Around midday, the aircraft had left Bequia, a tiny island popular with tourists in the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, bound for St. Lucia, according to authorities and NBC news.
“Moments after taking off, the aircraft experienced difficulties and plummeted into the ocean,” police said Thursday.
Fishermen and divers rushed to the scene, where members of the Coast Guard later recovered the bodies of all four people who had been on the plane, officials said.
Days before his death, Oliver marked the new year with “Greetings from somewhere in paradise!” on Instagram.
Born in Germany, Oliver appeared in dozens of roles over the course of his 30-year career, beginning in 1994 with a part in “Saved by the Bell: The New Class,” according to IMDb. He previously worked with actors including George Clooney, Tobey Maguire and Cate Blanchett, TMZ reported.
The cause of the plane crash remains under investigation, according to USA Today.
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