Joseph Gordon-Levitt shares emotional tribute to late brother on sibling's birthday

'Almost nothing thrilled him more than inspiring someone else to be creative'

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (right) with his late brother Dan Gordon-Levitt (Instagram/hitrecordjoe)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has shared a heartfelt tribute to his late brother on what would have been his sibling's 45th birthday.

On Saturday, the Inception star posted a photograph on Twitter and Instagram of himself with his older brother Dan Gordon-Levitt, in which the pair are pulling funny faces while wearing red noses.

Gordon-Levitt outlined in the captions how his brother co-founded online media platform HitRecord with him in 2005.

"RIP Dan. My brother. Today's his birthday. If you don't know, he started @hitrecord with me many years ago," the actor wrote on Instagram.

"He's also dead as hell. Almost nothing thrilled him more than inspiring someone else to be creative."

Gordon-Levitt explained that his brother's creativity transformed him from being a "shy software engineer" into a "swashbuckling fire-spinner and teacher".

"I love him and miss him," the Looper star added at the end of his message.

Dan Gordon-Levitt passed away in 2010 at the age of 36. A cause of death was not made public.

In addition to his emotional tribute to his brother, Gordon-Levitt also asked his Twitter followers to share drawings of his older brother in celebration of his birthday.

The 38-year-old created an "illustration challenge" page on the HitRecord website, where online contributors can share artwork of his brother my clicking the "contribute" button.

Several of Gordon-Levitt's Instagram followers shared messages of support for the actor underneath the tribute to his brother.

"Love you so much Joe. Thank you for keeping his beautiful spirit and creative fire alive in all of us," one person wrote.

"Sending you lots of love Joe, May his memory be a blessing," another commented.