Ryan Shepard, who acted as Eminem's stunt double in the early 2000s, has died ... tragically losing his life after getting hit while attempting to cross the street.
Ryan's brother Kyle tells TMZ ... Ryan died in Washington at the end of January after getting hit by an oncoming pickup truck. Emergency responders rushed him to a hospital, but it was too late.
Ryan worked not only as Eminem's stunt double but also as his photo double and stand-in ... appearing at the MTV Movie Awards as Eminem's superhero character, Rap Boy.
He took the stage again with the rapper for his 2002 Anger Management Tour, and on his Japan and Europe tour the following year -- he also appeared in D12's "Purple Hills" music video as Eminem's double.
Kyle tells us Ryan was incredibly intelligent ... going on to work at Disney as a ride mechanical engineer, and eventually moving to Elon Musk's SpaceX as a test automation engineer.
Ryan leaves behind his 2 children, a 7-year-old and an 11-year-old.
He was 40 years old.
RIP.