Former child actor Blake Garrett, best known for playing Plug in the 2006 family comedy How to Eat Fried Worms, has died at just 33 years old.
Garrett passed away Sunday, February 8, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His mother, Carol Garrett, confirmed the heartbreaking news, sharing that the family is still waiting for official autopsy results to determine his exact cause of death.
Born Nolan Blake Garrett in Austin, Texas, Blake showed star potential early. As a child, he lit up local theater stages in productions like Aladdin and His Magical Lamp and Peanuts: A Charlie Brown Tribute, later appearing in The Wizard of Oz, Annie, and Grease. At only 10 years old, he toured nationally with Barney’s Colorful World International Tour — a huge milestone for such a young performer.
But it was in 2006 that many fans came to know him. In How to Eat Fried Worms, Garrett played Plug alongside a young cast that would go on to win a Young Artist Award for Best Young Ensemble Cast. The film followed a new kid at school who makes a wild bet with a bully — to eat 10 worms without throwing up. It became a quirky, unforgettable family favorite for many who grew up in the mid-2000s.
In recent years, Garrett had been living in Oklahoma and, according to his mother, had maintained sobriety for three years — something she said he was proud of and had worked hard to achieve.
I froze in the doorway as soapy water splashed across the floor and my mother knelt there, trembling, while my fiancée screamed, “She doesn’t belong here!” Then my mother looked up at me through tears and whispered, “Son… please.” In that instant, the perfect life I thought I’d built cracked wide open. I had to choose—between the woman who raised me and the woman destroying her. What I did next shocked everyone.
Carol shared that Blake had recently gone to the emergency room after experiencing intense pain and was diagnosed with shingles. She believes he may have tried to self-medicate to cope with the discomfort and fears his death could have been a tragic accident.
Those close to him say he had been rebuilding his life, focused on staying sober and moving forward in a positive direction.
Blake Garrett was only 33.
