LOS ANGELES – Actor Corey Haim, a 1980s teenage heart-throb for his roles in Lucasand The Lost Boys,died yesterday from an apparent drug overdose aged 38.
Haim, whose career was blighted by drug abuse, had flu-like symptoms before he died and was getting over-the-counter and prescription medications, police in Los Angeles said. “He could have succumbed to whatever [illness] he had or it could have been drugs. Who knows?” a spokesman said.
Haim acknowledged his struggle with drug abuse to the Sun in 2004. "I was working on Lost Boyswhen I smoked my first joint," he told the paper. "I did cocaine for about a year and a half, then it led to crack," 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 Murphy's Romancein 1985 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 heart-throb with his roles in the 1986 movie Lucas and The Lost Boys.
In recent years, he appeared in the US reality TV show The Two Coreyswith his friend Corey Feldman. But it was cancelled in 2008 after two seasons. – (AP)