'OITNB' Creator Jenji Kohan's Son Dies At 20 In New Year's Eve Skiing Accident
Jan. 1 2020, Published 7:18 p.m. ET
Orange Is the New Black and Weeds creator Jenji Kohan's son Charlie Noxon has reportedly died following a ski accident on New Year's Eve in Park City, Utah. He was 20 years old. Police authorities and Vail Resorts confirmed Charlie's death to Page Six. Park City ski patrol responded to Charlie, a Columbia student, reportedly falling, on an intermediate ski trail near Canyons Village.
Charlie was taken to a nearby hospital by a University of Utah's Medivac Unit helicopter. After further emergency care and evaluation, Noxon was pronounced dead. “Park City Mountain, Park City Mountain Ski Patrol and the entire Vail Resorts family extend our deepest sympathy and support to our guest’s family and friends,” Park City Mountain Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Goar said in a statement.
Charlie was visiting the famed ski town with his father, journalist Christopher Noxon, and his two siblings Oscar and Eliza when the accident reportedly took place. Kohan, 50, and Noxon, 51, had divorced in 2018 after 21 years of marriage.
According to a 2017 New Yorker interview, Kohan had said she always wanted kids. The kitchen wall of her Los Angeles home was full of Post with scrawled quotes from her children. Charlie appeared in an episode of Weeds in 2008. His dad Christopher had noted in a December 30 Instagram post that the resort the family was staying in was crowded, adding that he had temporarily lost his phone.
They had apparently been on the trip for about a week. OITNB wound up its hit Netflix run after seven seasons in 2019. Kohan does few interviews and once noted, "I chose to be a writer for a reason. I don’t particularly want to be in front of the camera, so to speak."
But she told The Guardian, “God bless Netflix.” Kohan comes from a show business family. Her father, Buz, is a TV writer and producer of variety shows; her mother, Rhea, is a writer and actor, and her older brother, David, created Will & Grace.
One of the most successful women TV writers, Kohan started out working on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the early 90s – “a rough and fascinating entrance into the business," she has said. Kohan also had stints on Gilmore Girls, Sex and the City, and the first season of Friends.
But she was also all about family and now has suffered a tragic loss. It's not the first time someone from a notable family has died on the slopes. In 1997, Robert F. Kennedy's son Michael died in a ski accident. And Sonny Bono died in a bizarre ski mishap in 1998.