{"id":9776,"date":"2026-02-10T13:36:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T13:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/?p=9776"},"modified":"2026-02-10T13:36:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T13:36:27","slug":"former-child-star-dies-at-33-following-medical-emergency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/former-child-star-dies-at-33-following-medical-emergency\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Child Star Dies at 33 Following Medical Emergency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tragic news has rocked fans of early 2000s family films: Blake Garrett, the beloved child actor best known for his role as Plug in the 2006 comedy <em>How to Eat Fried Worms<\/em>, has died at just 33 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garrett passed away Sunday, February 8, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His mother, Carol Garrett, confirmed the heartbreaking news, noting that the family is still awaiting official autopsy results to determine the exact cause of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born Nolan Blake Garrett in Austin, Texas, he displayed star quality from a young age. Blake shined on local theater stages in productions like <em>Aladdin and His Magical Lamp<\/em> and <em>Peanuts: A Charlie Brown Tribute<\/em>, later taking roles in <em>The Wizard of Oz<\/em>, <em>Annie<\/em>, and <em>Grease<\/em>. At just 10, he toured nationally with <em>Barney\u2019s Colorful World International Tour<\/em>, a major milestone for a young performer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it was <em>How to Eat Fried Worms<\/em> that made him a household name. Playing Plug, Garrett helped bring to life a quirky story of a new kid at school who bets he can eat ten worms without gagging\u2014a film that became a favorite for a generation. Alongside his young castmates, Blake earned a Young Artist Award for Best Ensemble Cast, cementing his place in family film history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Continue reading on next page&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--nextpage-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent years, Garrett lived in Oklahoma and, according to his mother, had proudly maintained three years of sobriety\u2014a personal achievement he worked hard to uphold. Carol also shared that Blake had recently been treated for shingles after experiencing intense pain. She fears he may have tried to self-medicate, making his death a tragic accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Friends and family remember Blake as a resilient young man focused on rebuilding his life, embracing sobriety, and moving forward in a positive direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blake Garrett\u2019s life may have been short, but the joy he brought to fans and the dedication he showed to his craft will not be forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Remembering Blake Garrett:<\/strong> Share your favorite memory or movie moment from his career in the comments below and celebrate the legacy he leaves behind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tragic news has rocked fans of early 2000s family films: Blake Garrett, the beloved child actor best known for his&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9776"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9778,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9776\/revisions\/9778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tbdig.com\/sirbenet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}