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.”
