What happened to Detective Frost on Rizzoli & Isles? Is the actor dead? Find out

Rizzoli & Isles is a drama series starring actor Angie Harmon as police detective Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as a medical examiner, Dr Maura Isles. The drama series first premiered in 2010 on TNT and aired for seven seasons before finally ending in 2016. Helmed by Janet Tamaro the Rizzoli & Isles is based on writer Tess Gerritsen’s novels by the same name. Recently some fans of the show took to twitter to celebrate its 10 year anniversary.

When the series was still airing, it was one of the highest-rated shows on TNT. However, during the show’s season 5 premiere in 2014, fans of Rizzoli & Isles were shocked to discover that the lead character on the show Detective Barry Frost was dead on the show. Read on to find out, “What happened to Detective Frost?”

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Who played Barry Frost on Rizzoli and Isles?

According to a report on Slate, popular American actor Lee Thompson Young played Detective Barry Frost on the TNT show. The actor had started his acting career at the age of 13 when he was cast as the title character in the Disney series The Famous Jett Jackson. When the Disney show came to an end after three seasons and a movie, Young headed off to USC and earned a degree while still working on acting roles. His acting roles at the time included Friday Night Lights and several other TV series. One of Young’s breakthrough roles’ as Detective Barry Frost in the hit TNT series Rizzoli & Isles. 

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What happened to Detective Frost?

Fans of the TNT crime drama were left distraught, Lee Thompson Young committed suicide in August 2013. The 29-year-old actor was reportedly found dead in his Hollywood home by the police. The report further revealed that the young actor had been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and had shot himself in his house.

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After the news of Young’s death surfaced production on Rizzoli and Isles was shut down, and everyone was sent home. The grieving cast returned to the show’s set a week later to film the season’s final episode. In midst of the grief, the writers on the show had written off Young’s character Barry Frost for the season by sending the Frost character on vacation. 

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How did Barry Frost die on Rizzoli & Isles?

In an interview with the New York Post, one of the show writers revealed that when the show came back to its fifth season, they decided to deal with Young’s loss head-on. Hence, Detective Barry Frost died at the end of Episode 1. The writer revealed that they had decided to write off Barry Frost from the show by showing that he had died in an accident.