Answer Addiction

Tag: hollywood actor

  • Verne Troyer's Cause Of Death Revealed

    Verne Troyer's Cause Of Death Revealed

    The Austin Powers actor had been battling alcohol addiction in the limelight for over a decade. 

    Months after his passing in April, Verne Troyer’s cause of death has been determined.

    On Wednesday (Oct. 10) the Los Angeles County coroner’s office ruled the actor’s death a suicide by “sequelae of alcohol intoxication.” (Sequelae is defined as a condition that is a result of previous disease or injury.) Troyer died of multiple organ failure on April 21, 2018. He was 49.

    “Based on the history and circumstances as currently known, the manner of death is suicide,” said Deputy Medical Examiner Martina Kennedy in the coroner’s report.

    The Austin Powers actor had been battling alcohol addiction in the limelight for over a decade. He had been in treatment twice by 2016, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

    Troyer also appeared in the films Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and The Love Guru.

    In 2016, he said that he had cut down on his drinking. “[I’m] sober… I mean, I drink occasionally, but not to the extreme that I did.” 

    In April 2017, the actor released a statement after being hospitalized for alcohol addiction. “As you know, I’ve battled alcohol addiction in the past and while it’s not always been an easy fight, I’m willing to continue my fight day by day,” he posted on social media.

    He said at the time that he had been receiving treatment and will “continue to get the help that I need.”

    But a year later, he ended up in the hospital again with a blood alcohol content more than three times the legal limit.

    “The actor called 911 himself, repeatedly saying on the call and when he arrived to the emergency room that he wanted to die,” according to the Washington Post. Again, he announced that he would enter a treatment program. Troyer died just weeks later.

    “Anybody in need, he would help to any extent possible,” read a statement on his social media accounts on the day of his passing. “Verne hoped he made a positive change with the platform he had and worked towards spreading that message everyday.”

    The post continued: “Verne was also a fighter when it came to his own battles. Over the years he’s struggled and won, struggled and won, struggled and fought some more, but unfortunately this time was too much.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Ben Affleck Speaks Out After Completing Rehab Program

    Ben Affleck Speaks Out After Completing Rehab Program

    The Justice League star told fans on social media he just finished a 40-day rehab stint.

    Actor Ben Affleck took to Instagram on Thursday to tell fans that he’s just finished a 40-day stay in rehab for alcohol addiction treatment.

    “This week I completed a forty day stay at a treatment center for alcohol addiction and remain in outpatient care,” he wrote on Instagram.

    He credited family, friends and fans for providing the support he needed to complete his treatment program and being able to speak about it publicly.

    “The support I have received from my family, colleagues and fans means more to me than I can say,” he admitted in his post. “It’s given me the strength and support to speak about my illness with others.”

    Affleck said that while his family is a major source of strength for his ongoing recovery, fan support also helps to push him through.

    “So many people have reached out on social media and spoken about their own journeys with addiction. To those people, I want to say thank you,” he posted. “Your strength is inspiring and is supporting me in ways I didn’t think was possible. It helps to know I am not alone.”

    He hopes that his being open about recovery as a high-profile celebrity can help others find the courage to seek help.

    “As I’ve had to remind myself, if you have a problem, getting help is a sign of courage, not weakness or failure,” he wrote. “I continue to avail myself with the help of so many people and I am grateful to all those who are there for me. I hope down the road I can offer an example to others who are struggling.”

    Affleck sought help with the support of his estranged wife, actress Jennifer Garner. The two have three children that they are committed to co-parenting despite the soon-to-be-official divorce. She’s been pushing him to get help since last year, and continues to help him today. In fact, Garner was the one who drove him to rehab for this most recent stint, according to People.

    “I want to live life to the fullest and be the best father I can be,” Affleck wrote in a March 2017 Facebook post. “I’m lucky to have the love of my family and friends, including my co-parent, Jen, who has supported me and cared for our kids as I’ve done the work I set out to do. This was the first of many steps being taken towards a positive recovery.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Actor Jackson Odell Found Dead At Sober Living Facility

    Actor Jackson Odell Found Dead At Sober Living Facility

    Odell had appeared on a variety of sitcoms including “The Goldbergs,” “Arrested Development” and “Modern Family.”

    Actor Jackson Odell has been found dead at a sober living facility in Tarzana, California on Friday, June 8.

    Odell was 20 years old at his time of death, the cause of which has yet to be confirmed through an autopsy. E! News reported that the LA County Coroner’s Office stated that no drugs or drug paraphernalia were found at the scene of his death. Odell’s last drug test had been clean.

    According to TMZ, Odell had been in the sober living facility for three weeks.

    The Los Angeles Times reported that Ed Winter, assistant chief of investigations for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, stated that Odell had a “history with heroin” and that autopsy results would be delayed due to toxicology tests that will be done in order to evaluate if anything was in Odell’s system at the time of his death.

    Odell was an actor and a musician who had portrayed Ari Caldwell on ABC’s The Goldbergs from 2013 to 2015. In addition to other small acting roles on shows such as Modern Family and Arrested Development, he was a singer-songwriter who contributed original songs for the soundtrack of the film Forever My Girl.

    Odell’s family released a statement that focused on the young man’s spirit and place in his family:

    “The Odell family has lost our beloved son and brother, Jackson Odell on Friday,” the statement read. “He will always be a shining light and a brilliant, loving and talented soul.  He had so much more to share. Our family will always carry that truth forward. Our wish is that the rest of the world who knew and loved him does as well.  We are now going to try to make sense of our immeasurable loss privately. We will not be making any further statements.”

    Comedian and songwriter Josh Wolf created songs with Odell, and Wolf’s wife, Bethany, directed the movie Forever My Girl, for which Odell co-wrote the song “Don’t Water Down My Whiskey.”  

    Yahoo News published Josh Wolf’s tribute to Odell:

    “It’s important that people know how ready he was to live. How happy he was to be alive. How much more he had to share with all of us. We are simply crushed. Please go to his site, listen to his music, watch his videos… celebrate his life with us. We love you, Jackson.”

    Modern Family star Ariel Winter shared on Twitter that she had known Odell since they were 12 years old. “We didn’t talk much as we entered into our high school years, but I’m glad I got to spend time with him before his end. Very hard for me to hear about anyone passing away, but someone so young really saddens me.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Fear The Walking Dead" Actor Kevin Zegers Talks Sobriety

    "Fear The Walking Dead" Actor Kevin Zegers Talks Sobriety

    “Seven years ago, I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. I was in such a bad state.”

    While Kevin Zegers started out as a child actor and now plays a villain on Fear the Walking Dead, the road hasn’t always been easy. Even talking about his recovery was hard at first.

    “Seven years ago, I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. I was in such a bad state,” Zegers told Entertainment Tonight Canada in an interview. “I used to not talk about sobriety because it was like, ‘Oh, who cares,’ and it’s a little embarrassing.”

    But these days, Zegers is finding it easier to be open about what he went through, especially in hopes that it may help someone else.

    “The reason I go to an AA meeting on my birthday—the reason we’re urged to do that—is not for you, but you do it for others, to indicate it’s possible, which in the depths of addiction doesn’t feel possible,” he explained in the interview. “I think it’s our duty, even with, you know, a very small amount of fame, which I sometimes have, to go, ‘Oh s***, that guy suffers, too.’”

    Zegers credits his sobriety for landing him his part as Mel on Fear the Walking Dead as well as his marriage with his wife, Jamie, with whom he has twin daughters.

    “It’s the greatest accomplishment of my life and I don’t like to undermine it because I don’t think I have a wife, a family, I don’t think I’m on Fear The Walking Dead without that,” he said.

    Fear the Walking Dead is a prequel spinoff of AMC’s popular series, The Walking Dead. Despite being a member of the cast, Zegers is kept in the dark about plot twists as well as how long his villainous character will survive.

    “It’s an interesting villain because he’s not running around beating his chest, or trying to be intentionally scary or fear-provoking, but he just presents them with the facts,” he commented. “As an actor, you have to think, how do I make this work and what is it? How am I able to convey being frightening to somebody with what I have?”

    But his scariest moments come from raising his daughters.

    “There’s no easing into parenting if you have twins, but it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “We think we’re self-aware and you go, ‘Oh, you know that I can get frustrated easily,’ or ‘I’m super self-conscious’ or, ‘I have a short temper,’ and then you see a physical embodiment of you at two-and-a-half, and they just have no filter and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, it’s me when I’m in traffic!’”

    View the original article at thefix.com