Salon Home
Topic

Corey Haim

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 3:11 PM UTC2010-03-10T15:11:00Zl, M j, Y g:i A T

The Corey Haim highlight reel

Slide show: From his breakout film roles to his addled interviews

The Corey Haim highlight reel
Topics:,

Corey Haim’s death from an apparent overdose at 38 is incredibly sad, but it certainly isn’t surprising to those who followed his career, and troubles, for nearly three decades. He long ago emerged as a Gen X poster child for the dangers of fame in a celebrity-obsessed culture. His battle with substance abuse was its own kind of reality drama, playing out in the tabloids, in interviews that re-surfaced on YouTube and, eventually, his own reality show.

Haim was a gifted child actor who broke into the big time with memorable turns in the nerd underdog tearjerker “Lucas” and the teen vampire saga “Lost Boys,” but it was his partnership with fellow child actor Corey Feldman that shot him into the teen idol stratosphere. Theirs was a match made in Hollywood branding heaven: The Two Coreys. Movies like “License to Drive” and “Dream a Little Dream” were soft-core tween fantasy, in which smirking kids outsmart dopey grown-ups en route to racy romantic adventures. Adulthood did, in fact, prove difficult for Haim, as work dried up and he waged a public battle with drugs and alcohol. A look back in his life through video reminds us how charming he was, and how much he struggled.

View a slide show

Sarah Hepola is an editor at Salon.  More Sarah Hepola

Monday, Mar 15, 2010 12:08 PM UTC2010-03-15T12:08:00Zl, M j, Y g:i A T

Authorities: Corey Haim had illegal prescription

The actor is said to have obtained painkillers through a major drug ring

The late actor Corey Haim had a fraudulent prescription for a powerful painkiller that authorities said Friday was obtained through a major drug ring.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s office said records of the prescription in the name of the former teen heartthrob were found during an investigation of the ring that illegally obtained prescription pads and used the stolen identities of doctors to fill them out.

“Corey Haim’s death is yet another tragedy linked to the growing problem of prescription drug abuse,” Brown said in a written statement. “This problem is increasingly linked to criminal organizations, like the illegal and massive prescription drug ring under investigation.”

Continue Reading

  More ANTHONY McCARTNEY

  More Greg Risling

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 11:11 PM UTC2010-03-10T23:11:00Zl, M j, Y g:i A T

Twitter mourns Corey Haim

Colson Whitehead, Jeremy Piven, Lisa Marie Presley and others tap out their grief in 140 characters or less

Twitter mourns Corey Haim

Grief hits people in different ways. Some keep to themselves, some take to Twitter. Following the news of former child star Corey Haim’s death, celebrities expressed their sadness in 140 characters or less. Below is a sampling of the most interesting.

Colson Whitehead, novelist (most recently of “Sag Harbor”):

“In honor of our fallen Corey, we should all sing David Bowie’s ‘Fame,’ substituting Haim where appropriate.”

Continue Reading

Jed Lipinski is an editorial fellow at Salon.  More Jed Lipinski

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 4:30 PM UTC2010-03-10T16:30:00Zl, M j, Y g:i A T

Corey Haim: Little boy lost as the cameras roll

The late actor is a painful example of how our culture digests little kids and regurgitates them as sideshow acts

Corey Haim: Little boy lost as the cameras roll

What happens when you make a roadside attraction out of a human being? How do you take a guy who’s spent a lifetime shaking off the vulnerability and ego omnipotence that often comes with child stardom, a guy who struggles with drugs, says he was sexually abused, who’s clearly on shaky emotional ground, and put him back in front of the camera with his longtime friend and foe?

Watching this footage from “The Two Coreys,” a show built around the decaying relationship and revived career hopes of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, will make you wonder about the practice of pointing cameras in the faces of exactly those people who are destined to get confused, say too much, and regret it. Corey Haim was allegedly troubled long before (and presumably after) these scenes were shot, and his judgment (and Feldman’s) doesn’t appear that sound.

Continue Reading

Heather Havrilesky is Salon's TV critic and author of the rabbit blog. Her memoir, "Disaster Preparedness," published in 2010.   More Heather Havrilesky

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 2:12 PM UTC2010-03-10T14:12:00Zl, M j, Y g:i A T

‘Lost Boys’ actor Corey Haim dead in Burbank at 38

Actor dies in Burbank hospital, autopsy to determine cause

Corey Haim, in a still from "The Lost Boys."

Corey Haim, in a still from "The Lost Boys."

Topics:

The Los Angeles coroner’s office says “The Lost Boys” actor Corey Haim is dead at 38.

Coroner’s Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said Wednesday that Haim died at 2:15 a.m. at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. She said an autopsy will determine the cause of death and there are no other details.

Canadian-born Haim became a teen heartthrob with the 1986 film “Lucas” and 1987′s “The Lost Boys.”

His first role was in the 1984 hit “Firstborn,” in which he played a young child caught up in a family war. He then appeared in the 1985 television movie “A Time to Live.”

In recent years, he appeared in the A&E reality TV show “The Two Coreys” with his friend Corey Feldman. It was canceled in 2008 after two seasons.

  More Associated Press

Other News