From Calvin Klein Model to Overdose Victim: The Rodney Harvey Story
How a face of the '90s became a chilling Hollywood cautionary tale.
Rodney Michael Harvey was an American actor, model, singer, and dancer whose career flickered with potential before being cut tragically short. Born in Philadelphia on July 31, 1967, he was discovered by director Paul Morrissey, landing roles in Mixed Blood (1984) and Spike of Bensonhurst (1988).
Leaving school in the 11th grade, Harvey chased his dream to Los Angeles—signing with an agent and transitioning into a modeling career that took off. He graced the pages of Life magazine in a layout featuring Madonna, captured by Bruce Weber, and later modeled for Calvin Klein.
By 1990, he scored the role of Sodapop Curtis in the Fox series The Outsiders, appearing in all 13 episodes before the show was axed. His acting path touched several iconic projects: a brief but memorable appearance in Twin Peaks, a role in Gus Van Sant’s cult favorite My Own Private Idaho (1991), and parts in Five Corners (1987), Guncrazy (1992), and his final screen appearance in God’s Lonely Man (1996).
Drugs
Harvey’s life took a painful turn during the filming of My Own Private Idaho, where he — much like co-star River Phoenix — began using heroin. What started as experimentation spiraled into addiction, triggering legal troubles and repeated attempts to get clean.
According to German-language sources, Harvey spent a stretch in jail in 1996, using that time to earn his high school diploma. In 1997, a former agent attempted to help him reconnect with the industry, but addiction proved relentless. He drifted between family and friends in Philadelphia before another stint behind bars in early 1997.
A Life Ends Too Soon
Less than two weeks after being released from custody on April 9, 1998, Rodney Harvey was found dead in Room 222 of the Hotel Barbizon in Los Angeles from an overdose of heroin and cocaine—at just 30 years old
During the making of My Own Private Idaho, Harvey began using heroin. After several stints in jail and attempts to get clean, he died of a heroin and cocaine overdose on April 11, 1998, at the Hotel Barbizon in Los Angeles.
Final Resting Place
He was laid to rest in Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Springfield, Pennsylvania, in the grave of his maternal grandfather. Notably, his own name does not appear on the headstone.
A Lasting, Though Painful, Legacy
After his death, powerful images of Harvey in the depths of addiction were used in a public service announcement by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (Partnership for a Drug‑Free America). The haunting photos served as a raw and sobering warning against the dangers of heroin addiction.