A Hollywood actor found murdered at L.A home

An actor has been found murdered at the rented home of Canadian talk-show host George Stroumboulopoulos in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, police and the TV personality said on Friday.

The body of Richard Hong, 41, was found at the house by officers responding to reports of a burglary there shortly after 2 a.m. PT (0900 GMT), said Officer Norma Eisenman, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman.

"Officers were directed to a male, the apparent victim of a homicide," Eisenman said, adding that witnesses reported seeing a man in a black jacket fleeing the area on foot.

That suspect remained at large on Friday evening despite a search of the neighborhood using dogs and a helicopter.

The Los Angeles Times, citing a coroner's spokesman, said that the victim had sustained head trauma. Reuters could not immediately confirm that report with the coroner's office.

"Many of you have seen the reports of a homicide which occurred early this morning in the home I rent in Los Angeles," Stroumboulopoulos said in a post on Twitter.

"I only have a few details but it seems like it was the result of a break in," he said. "The victim was a dear friend of mine, who was staying at my place while I was away. I am heartbroken."

Stroumboulopoulos said that he was sending the message from a plane en route to Los Angeles from New York "so I can be with my friends there, who are also devastated."

Stroumboulopoulos, 44, is best known as the host of a CBC talk show, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.

One of the country's most recognized TV presenters, Stroumboulopoulos also served as a host of Hockey Night in Canada, a fixture of Canadian television, for two seasons. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Mary Milliken)