Former ‘Boston Legal’ Actor Justin Mentell Dies in Iowa County Crash
Actor Justin Mentell, a 2001 Waukegan High School graduate who co-starred on the ABC television series “Boston Legal,” died early Monday in a one-car accident southwest of Madison, Wis., according to the Iowa County Sheriff’s Department. Mentell, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene around 9 a.m. after his 2005 Jeep left the roadway on Route 39 near Mineral Point, Wis., went down an embankment and struck two trees.
Mentell was born in Austin, Texas. He made his stage debut at three years of age as an orphan in Miss Liberty, and went on to appear in local theater productions, among them the musical Peter Pan, in which he portrayed one of the Lost Boys. After the family moved to Waukegan, Illinois, Mentell joined the Northbrook Children's Theater, where he continued to perform on stage. He also took up speed skating, placing third at the Junior Olympics and eventually becoming a member of the U.S. Speedskating's junior national long track team.
Mentell attended Northern Illinois University (NIU), where he majored in acting. He appeared in several plays there, including Balm in Gilead, The Play's the Thing and Never the Sinner. During his sophomore year, he trained at the Moscow Art Theatre, as part of a summer exchange program sponsored by NIU's School of Theater and Dance.
At NIU he also appeared in several independent films, including At the Still Point, for which he received the Golden Reel Award for Best Actor at its 2005 Film Festival. He also appeared in the feature film, Roll Bounce.
Mentell was a member of the cast of television dramedy Boston Legal as Garrett Wells. He played the role from the end of the first season through February 2006. His 2009 projects included Death Walks the Streets and the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced live-action/CGI family feature G-FORCE for Walt Disney Pictures, which was released in theaters July 24, 2009.
On February 1, 2010, he died in a car crash near Mineral Point, Wisconsin. According to the Iowa County Sheriff's Department, Mentell, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene around 9 a.m. after his 2005 Jeep left the roadway on Highway 39, went down an embankment and struck two trees.
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