Brad Everett Young (1979–2025)

Brad Everett Young was a Virginia-born actor, photographer, and passionate arts advocate whose career spanned decades of small-screen and silver-screen roles as well as award-covered photography. Born on July 24, 1979, in Danville, Virginiathe-independent.com, Young grew up in a family of three children and developed an early love of storytelling and visual media. He served as editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper and later of his college news magazine, gaining notice in the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity’s national magazine for his scholastic publishing achievementsfamousbirthdays.com. Young earned a Bachelor of Science and even planned to attend medical school, but the call of the entertainment industry drew him to Los Angeles insteadfamousbirthdays.comazat.tv. In a 2015 interview he recalled that within a month of arriving in Hollywood he auditioned for a TV series, booked the part, joined the Screen Actors Guild, and “absolutely fell in love” with the acting lifethe-independent.com.

Acting Career: Young’s on-screen career began in the late 1990s. He made his television debut with one-off appearances in family and teen dramas, including Boy Meets World, Felicity, and Popularew.compeople.com. Throughout the 2000s he accumulated dozens of bit parts and background roles on series such as Charmed, Beverly Hills, 90210, Beverly Hills 90210 (the 2009 CW reboot), Numb3rs, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Practice, and Grey’s Anatomy. Notably, in Grey’s Anatomy (2008) he was featured as an appendicitis patientew.comthe-independent.com. Simultaneously, Young appeared in several feature films. His movie credits include Charlie’s Angels (2000), Jurassic Park III (2001), Love & Basketball (2000), Men of Honor (2000), I Love You, Man (2009), The Artist (2011), and the Hallmark drama Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2017)the-independent.comew.com. Though these were typically minor or uncredited parts (often playing anonymous figures or brief “extra” roles), they were a steady steady thread in his acting resume until the late 2010s.

Each role in Young’s filmography was typically fleeting – often just a background character or one-scene appearance – but collectively they built a “steady list of small television and film credits,” as The Independent notedthe-independent.com. For example, he portrayed an appendicitis patient in a 2008 episode of Grey’s Anatomythe-independent.com and appeared as a fan at a basketball game in Love & Basketball (2000).

Transition to Photography: As his acting work continued, Young concurrently cultivated a second career behind the camera. By the late 2010s he was widely known as a celebrity photographer and creative director in Los Angeles. Entertainment Weekly observed that “in the latter part of his career” Young focused heavily on photographing stars, and that his work appeared in major fashion and pop-culture outletsew.com. His photographic style – often vivid, high-fashion portraits of actors on the red carpet – made him a fixture at Hollywood events. As one industry friend put it, Young “had an eye that could capture both the glitz of celebrity and the quiet humanity behind the flash”the-independent.com. He shot official portraits and backstage images at premieres, galas, and awards shows, frequently collaborating with magazines like Vanity Fair, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, and Peoplethe-independent.comew.com. Over time Young amassed a following of over two million on Instagram (@bradley206), where he shared these portraits and behind-the-scenes glimpsesew.com.

Throughout his career Young regularly collaborated with actors and influencers. (For example, in 2022 he photographed Never Have I Ever star Darren Barnetfamousbirthdays.com.) Many of his most memorable shoots were informal portrait sessions at conventions and fan events, or charity photo calls where he invited veteran soap-opera and television actors to pose with props and wild backdrops. These sessions were often tied to his nonprofit work (described below).

Major Projects and Collaborations: Beyond one-off shoots, Young undertook several larger creative projects. He contributed backstage photography to the acclaimed indie film The Long Walk (2022), and he was the on-set photographer for the primetime series The Red Line (2019). In commercials and branded content, he worked with campaigns for companies like Sony (using their Alpha camera line, as credited in his blog) and fashion brands like AllSaints. Notably, he co-founded Dream Loud Magazine (an online entertainment news outlet) and Dream Loud Official, which became the most significant project of his life.

As part of his collaborations with fellow performers, Young often operated on a pro-bono basis. Colleagues noted that he “donated his time, [his] talent” and raised funds for underserved school art programs through the connections made at celebrity eventsthe-independent.com. General Hospital actor Chris McKenna – a close friend and frequent subject – praised Young for caring deeply about people and creativity, saying “he absolutely refused money whenever he took photos of me… He was always striving to make the situation better”azat.tv. Such testimonials reflect Young’s collaborative spirit.

Dream Loud Official (Arts Education): In 2014 Young formalized his community efforts by founding Dream Loud Official, a nonprofit campaign dedicated to “help save the art & music programs in schools”the-independent.comdreamloudofficial.com. The organization’s mission was born from Young’s own experience as a school newspaper editor: he often spoke of how music and art programs “changed my life” and how he “couldn’t even imagine not having those programs growing up”the-independent.com. Dream Loud Official used viral photography campaigns to draw attention to budget cuts in public-school arts. As Young explained on the organization’s website, the idea was to do something “over the top” to grab parents’ attention – for example, by shooting portraits of popular TV stars to rally soap-opera fans around the causedreamloudofficial.com. He initially focused on beloved daytime television actors (given the large audiences of their fans), then expanded to include actors from primetime series as well. According to the Dream Loud site, “the campaign grew… fans began drawing pics of the photos we were taking and posting them online and spreading the word even more”dreamloudofficial.com.

Dream Loud Official’s activities included organizing charity galas, auctioning signed photographs, and running youth art contests. Young often spoke in schools and at industry panels about the importance of arts in education. A 2015 Chatham Star-Tribune interview quoted him saying: “I don’t know what I would have done had I not had the [arts] programmes growing up… They allowed me to express myself in art and in life.”thestar.com.my. Through Dream Loud Official, Young raised money for underfunded music and art teachers and also donated many of his own shoots back to school programs and charities. After his passing, the organization vowed to carry on his legacy, as his publicist Paul Christensen noted: “He lived his mission of keeping creativity alive, and his legacy will continue through Dream Loud Official.”the-independent.com

Death (2025): On the night of September 14, 2025, Brad Everett Young was tragically killed in a head-on freeway collision in Los Angeles. After attending a late-night film screening, Young was driving on the 134 Freeway when another vehicle traveling the wrong way collided with his car ew.comazat.tv. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other driver was hospitalized but survivedew.comthe-independent.com. Young was 46 years old. He is survived by his brother, Christhe-independent.com.

News of his death prompted an outpouring of tributes from the entertainment community. His publicist shared the cause of the accident and Young’s dedication to creativity. Colleagues remembered him as kind and generous; for instance, actor Parry Shen called him “one of the kindest and most generous people” he’d ever knownazat.tv. People Magazine noted that Young’s passion for the arts was “unmatched” and emphasized that his friends were “in complete shock” by his lossew.comthe-independent.com. Younger’s final public appearances (including a September 2025 Q&A event) were typical of a man still bursting with enthusiasm for both film and photography; as one tribute observed, he remained “a beacon of light” in Hollywood. Although his life was cut short, his supporters and Dream Loud Official resolved to ensure that Brad Everett Young’s creative spirit would live on through the arts programs and people he championed.

Timeline of Key Events in Brad Everett Young’s Life:

Awards, Recognition & Arts-Education Contributions: Over the course of his career, Brad Everett Young became known as a champion for the arts in education, though he received no major acting awards. His “award” was often the success of his initiatives. Key milestones and recognitions include:

• 2014 – Dream Loud Official (Founded): Launched the Dream Loud Official nonprofit to support art and music programs in public schoolsthe-independent.com.
• 2015 – Media Recognition: Profiled in press as an arts advocate, including a feature interview where he discussed keeping arts programs in schoolsthestar.com.my.
• 2010s – Industry Honors: Although not formally awarded, Hollywood media frequently referred to Young as a “champion of arts education”azat.tv. After his death, friends and colleagues cited his charitable work and Dream Loud mission in memorialsthe-independent.comazat.tv.
• Ongoing Contributions: Throughout his career he volunteered photo shoots and helped fundraise for arts programs. General Hospital actors noted that Young often donated his time and talent to raise money for underserved school programsthe-independent.com. These efforts were the bedrock of his legacy as an arts educator and mentor.

Brad Everett Young’s life story is thus one of quiet dedication: from a Virginia school paper editor to a Hollywood insider, he leveraged every opportunity to spotlight creativity. His acting roles may have been small, but his impact on arts advocacy and celebrity photography was felt by many. His narrative – encapsulated by his motto to “keep creativity alive” – continues to inspire those he photographed and those he helped through Dream Loud Officialthe-independent.comazat.tv.

Sources: Contemporary news articles and interviews were used to document Young’s life and careerthe-independent.comthe-independent.comew.compeople.com. These provide the basis for the above biography and tables, covering his birth, education, acting and photography work, Dream Loud Official, and final years. Each source is cited in context in the text.