LOST BOYS ACTOR COREY HAIM DIES AT 38

COREY HAIM, THE HOLLYWOOD TEEN STAR OF THE 1980s WHO BECAME FAMOUS FOR HIS STRUGGLES WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE AS HIS ACTING, HAS DIED IN LOS ANGELES OF AN APPARENT DRUG OVERDOSE, AFTER BEING FOUND UNRESPONSIVE AT HIS APARTMENT IN THE OAKWOOD AREA OF LOS ANGELES, HIS MOTHER IS THOUGHT TO HAVE CALLED THE EMERGENCY SERVICES. HE WAS 38. HAIM, WHO ROSE TO FAME ALONGSIDE FELLOW 'COREY' TEEN STAR COREY FELDMAN AND BECAME KNOWN FOR HIS HARD PARTYING WAYS, WAS TAKEN BY AMBULANCE TO ST JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL IN BURBANK, WHERE HE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT 2:15am. WHILE THE LA CORONER'S OFFICE HAS YET TO CARRY OUT A POST-MORTUM, THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF FOUL PLAY. HAIM HAD FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS BEFORE HE DIED AND WAS GETTING OVER-THE-COUNTER AND PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS, SGT WILLIAM MANN OF THE LAPD SAID. 'HE COULD HAVE SUCCUMBED TO WHATEVER ILLNESS HE HAD OR IT COULD HAVE BEEN DRUGS. HE HAS HAD A DRUG PROBLEM IN THE PAST.' IN THE 1980s, THE CANADIAN-BORN ACTOR HAIM FIRST CAME TO INTERNATIONAL PROMINENCE IN THE 1986 FILM 'LUCAS', ALONGSIDE CHARLIE SHEEN AND WINONA RYDER, FOLLOWED BY HIS BIGGEST HIT, CULT-CLASSIC 'THE LOST BOYS', WITH KIEFFER SUTHERLAND, JASON PATRIC AND COREY FELDMAN, AS WELL AS 'LICENSE TO DRIVE', ALSO WITH FELDMAN. BUT IN THE 90s, HE SLIPPED INTO OBSCURITY AFTER SEVERAL FILMS WENT STRAIGHT TO VIDEO WITHOUT CINEMATIC RELEASE, AND SPENT MOST OF THAT TIME PERIOD IN AND OUT OF REHAB RECEIVING TREATMENT FOR PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE. HE BECAME KNOWN FOR HIS ON-SCREEN PARTNERSHIP AND OFF-SCREEN FRIENDSHIP WITH FELDMAN, WHO ALSO STRUGGLED WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND THEY OFTEN WERE REFERRED TO AS 'THE TWO COREYS'. THE PAIR STARED IN A REALITY TV SERIES OF THE SAME NAME ON AMERICAN CABLE TELEVISION IN 2006, BUT IT WAS CANCELED BEFORE FINISHING THE SECOND SEASON. IN A 2007 INTERVIEW ON CNN'S 'LARRY KING LIVE', HAIM CALLED HIMSELF 'A CHRONIC RELAPSER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE'.