Disney honors Cameron Boyce with charitable donation in place of 'Descendants 3' premiere event
BURBANK, Calif. -- Disney will honor late actor Cameron Boyce by making a charitable donation to a nonprofit that provides safe drinking water to communities in Africa, the company announced Thursday.
"We're proud to be part of Cameron Boyce's legacy by showcasing his talents on screen but we are canceling the red carpet premiere event for 'Descendants 3' (scheduled for July 22) and instead, The Walt Disney Company will make a donation to the Thirst Project, a philanthropic organization to which Cameron was deeply committed," the company said in a statement.
Boyce played Carlos de Vil in the "Descendants" films. Disney Channel will dedicate the August premiere telecast of "Descendants 3" in Boyce's memory.
Boyce, 20, died from epilepsy, a family spokesperson told ABC News Wednesday. The family had previously said that Boyce had died in his sleep of a seizure caused by a medical condition. They said he was being treated for the condition but did not specify at the time what it was.
He was honored in 2018 for his work with the Thirst Project, bringing awareness to the global water crisis and raising more than $30,000 for the organization to build two wells in Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, in efforts to bring clean drinking water to the region.
Boyce was born and raised in Los Angeles. He was a dancer who got his acting start in commercials, then television and film. Boyce starred alongside Adam Sandler in "Grown Ups" and "Grown Ups 2," and other film credits include "Mirrors," ''Eagle Eye" and the indie feature "Runt." He also starred in the upcoming HBO series "Mrs. Fletcher."
In 2017, he received a Daytime Emmy Award with Disney XD for his participation in the series "Timeless Heroes_Be Inspired," in honor of Black History Month. He appeared alongside his grandmother Jo Ann Boyce, one of 12 black teens known as the Clinton 12 who were the first to integrate into public school in Clinton, Tennessee, according to his Disney Channel biography.
A Disney Channel spokesperson released a statement Sunday saying that from a young age, Boyce dreamed of sharing his artistic talents with the world and was fueled by a desire to make a difference in peoples' lives through his humanitarian work.
"He was an incredibly talented performer, a remarkably caring and thoughtful person and, above all else, he was a loving and dedicated son, brother, grandson and friend," the statement said. "We offer our deepest condolences to his family, castmates and colleagues and join his many millions of fans in grieving his untimely passing. He will be dearly missed."
Walt Disney Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Iger tweeted Sunday: "The Walt Disney Company mourns the loss of #CameronBoyce, who was a friend to so many of us, and filled with so much talent, heart and life, and far too young to die. Our prayers go out to his family and his friends."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of this station.
