Mental Illness Takes Broadway Dancer’s Life

On Friday a 45-year-old man committed suicide by hanging himself from the Winterdale Arch in Central Park. Sadly that man was Harlan Bengel, 45 a was a long time dancer in Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera. He had placed a plastic bag over his head.

Harlan, also also performed in the Broadway hit War Horse.45-year-old

Cops found a note directing whoever found him to call a specific person at a given number.

He had be married to Jennifer Piacenti, an actress and model, in 2004, but they divorced.

Harlan’s current Facebook profile photo also showed him standing on a bridge. Bengel struggled with mental illness for years.

According to save.org mental disorders exist frequently throughout the United States. About one in five adults suffer from a diagnosable mental illness (disorder) in a given year.