Jennifer Syme was a vibrant actress, in a happy relationship with co-actor Keanu Reeves and expecting a baby before tragedy struck. The one who would have been Ava Syme died in her mother’s womb and caused untold pain to her mum and in a bid to find succor, Jennifer took to drugs (stimulants).
The pain and grief of losing a child led the couple to split as it seemed their love wasn’t prepared for such a test. However, the two actors remained friends before Jennifer’s drug abuse eventually led to her early death.
Who Is Jennifer Syme?
She was born Jennifer Marie Syme at Pico Rivera, South East Los Angeles on December 7, 1972. She was the only child of Maria St. John and Charles Syme. Charles was a retired highway police officer in California. Her parent’s marriage was rocky and they later separated which meant Jennifer spent most of her childhood with her mother in the coastal city of Laguna Beach.
There, she developed her love for food, music and collecting antiques. When she was 18, she and her mother moved to Los Angeles in a bid to change their environment.
There are no records of her attendance in any high school or tertiary institution, however, what we know of her working life began when she moved to Los Angeles and landed a job as a personal assistant to David Lynch, the renowned director, and film producer – who later described Jennifer Syme as a vibrant young lady.
Her work with Lynch began when he was producing the ABC horror series Twin Peaks. She asked to be part of the production and was hired as an intern at his company, Asymmetrical Productions. She was a dedicated member of the team and gave endless inputs for the success of most productions.
Jennifer soon developed a passion for acting and began featuring in movies produced by her boss. She featured in the 1993 movie, Lost Highway. In the movie, she played the character of a drug addict. While working as an actress, she met and became close friends with Scott Coffey. He was also a filmmaker and her friendship with him led to her appearance in one of his movies titled Elle Parker. It was a comic portrayal of a young woman in Los Angeles, trying to fit into the contemporary life of the city. The movie was produced and released in 2005, four years after her sad demise.
Jennifer didn’t feature in any more films but went ahead to also become a personal assistant to the popular musician, Dave Navarro.
Was Jennifer Syme Keanu Reeves’ Wife?
Even though most people refer to Jennifer Syme as the wife of the Hollywood A-list Canadian actor, Keanu Reeves, he never got the opportunity to actually make her his wife despite the fact that she had his child, howbeit stillborn. The tragic loss of their child flung a wedge in their relationship which saw them drift apart and suddenly became estranged, weeks after the sad incident.
Jennifer started dating Keanu Reeves in 1998 after they met at a party organized in his band’s (Dog Star) honor. Despite her lover’s intent to keep it a secret, their relationship caught the attention of the media and was all over the tabloids. This was mainly because Keanu was at the peak of his career at the time, so, any news about him was media gold.
It wasn’t long before Jennifer took in and was expecting a child. Keanu bought her a house as soon as he learned she was pregnant. But misfortune struck when Jennifer noticed that she had not felt the baby move for a while. A doctor was consulted and an ultra scan was done to ascertain the problem.
The scan showed that her eight-month unborn child, who was to be named Ava Archer Reeves was dead. The stillborn child was surgically removed and buried which didn’t go well with her mother. She went into depression and heavily relied on prescription pills for sleeping and relaxation.
The death of the child also affected her relationship with Reeves as she broke up with him in 2000. Jennifer was still in the process of recovering and getting her life back on track when her grandfather died and then she was pushed further into depression.
Tragic Death – How Did She Die?
Jennifer Syme was only 28 when she was snatched by the cold hands of death. It was a sad day for her family when their only child died in a car accident, presumably on her way to a party at Cahuenga Boulevard in Los Angeles. Jennifer was invited to a party organized by the musician, Marilyn Manson on April 1, 2001. It was reported that she left the party earlier to go home and was driven by one of the guests. However, despite being intoxicated, she attempted to return to the party venue (for reasons unknown), driving her 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee but never got to her destination; she crashed into a couple of parked cars, was slighty ejected from the car by the accident and instantly died from the injuries she sustained.
An investigation was conducted after her death to deduce the cause, the investigators found white substance rolled up in dollar bills and prescription pills. An autopsy conducted on Jennifer’s corpse showed that she was heavily inebriated at the time of her death.