Corey Haim, a 1980s teen heartthrob for his roles in “Lucas” and “The Lost Boys” whose career was blighted by drug abuse, has died. He was 38. Haim died at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Los Angeles County coroner’s Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said.
“As he got out of bed, he felt a little weak and went down to the floor on his knees,” Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said. His mother called paramedics.
Haim, who gained attention for his roles in “Lucas” and “The Lost Boys,” had flulike symptoms before he died and was getting over-the-counter and prescription medications, police Sgt. William Mann said.
“He could have succumbed to whatever (illness) he had or it could have been drugs,” Mann said. “He has had a drug problem in the past.” Haim acknowledged his struggle with drug abuse to The Sun in 2004.
“I was working on ‘Lost Boys’ when I smoked my first joint,” he told the British tabloid.
“I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack,” he said.
Haim said he went into rehabilitation and was put on prescription drugs. He took both stimulants and sedatives such as Valium.
“I started on the downers which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers because I was a nervous wreck,” he said. “But one led to two, two led to four, four led to eight, until at the end it was about 85 a day.”
In 2007, he told ABC’s “Nightline” that drugs hurt his career.
“I feel like with myself I ruined myself to the point where I wasn’t functional enough to work for anybody, even myself. I wasn’t working,” he said.
The Toronto-born actor got his start in television commercials at 10 and earned a good reputation for his work in such films as 1985’s “Murphy’s Romance” and his portrayal of Liza Minelli’s dying son in the 1985 television film “A Time to Live.”
His career peaked and he became a teen heartthrob with his roles in the 1986 movie “Lucas,” and “The Lost Boys,” in which he battled vampires.
courtest of MSNBC
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