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A
young
American
Broadway
and
television
star
retreated
to Australia, a country he
loved, to deal with personal
problems
stemming from his fame.
But Jason Raize's quest ended in death
when he took his own life on a
property
in southern NSW, friends said today.
He was just 28.
Raize, one of the stars of the original
Broadway production of The Lion
King,
was found dead at the Yass property on
February 7, according to Yass
Police.
Following a successful career on stage and
on TV, Raize arrived in Australia six or seven
months ago, declaring he wanted
to deal
with his depression, said Australian
friend, artist and gallery owner
Peter
Crisp.
"He had been depressed and was going
through a lot of issues," said
Mr Crisp, who had met the New York-based
performer, whose real name was
Rothenberg, during his earlier 2001 visit
to Australia.
"He came to Australia to retreat and
probably to deal with issues
stemming
from his fame."
Raize spent time in Sydney and Armidale
before moving shortly before
Christmas
to a property near Yass, to whose owner he
had been introduced by Mr
Crisp.
There he had been doing odd jobs in
exchange for food and board,
according to
the property's owner, who asked not to be
named.
Raize was last seen on the morning of
February 2 and was reported
missing to
police the next day.
His body was found in a hay shed on
February 7.
Mr Crisp said Raize had looked forward to
returning to Australia since his first
visit in 2001, when the
young star
was shooting a series of wildlife programs
for US TV called Keeping It
Wild.
"He loved the experience he'd had in Australia previously,
(and) he talked about it as one
of his
happiest times ever," said Mr Crisp, who
is based in Yass.
"Once he got back to America, he always
talked about Australia and wanting to
come back here, and he did
exactly
that."
The owner of the Yass property remembered
the entertainer as "an
adorable
person".
"I didn't know Jason very well. He was an
adorable person," she said.
"I knew he was having a few problems, but
I didn't know terribly much
about them."
She said Raize did not speak much about
himself.
"He was a beautiful person and he had a
smile that would just light up
the
world.
"Perhaps he's been a victim of all the
good things that had happened to
him."
Raize made his name in the original
Broadway production of The Lion
King, a
production of which is currently playing
in Sydney.
Raize played the older Simba in the
musical, based on Disney's animated
film
and which opened on Broadway in November
1997. He kept the part for
nearly
three years.
Disney Australia Theatrical Production
managing director James Thane
said Raize
had attended an October preview of the
Australian production of The
Lion King.
"Other than that we've had no contact with
him," Mr Thane said.
Raize, from upstate New York,
had performed in a
variety of stage productions including a
"Jesus Christ Superstar"
tour with Ted Neeley and later a "King and
I" tour starring Hayley
Mills.
He also used his talents to address
concerns for the environment and
was named
an Ambassador of Goodwill for the UN
Environment Program.
Raize most recently lent his voice to the
character of Denahi in
Disney's 2003
animated feature film Brother Bear.
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