“He could have succumbed to whatever illness he had, or it could have been drugs,’’ Mann said. “He has had a drug problem in the past.’’
Mr. Haim’s friend Corey Feldman said he wept when he heard the news.
“This is a tragic loss of a wonderful, beautiful, tormented soul, who will always be my brother, family, and best friend,’’ Feldman said in a statement. “We must all take this as a lesson in how we treat the people we share this world with while they are still here to make a difference.’’
Mr. Haim acknowledged his struggle with drug abuse to a British tabloid in 2004.
“I was working on ‘Lost Boys’ when I smoked my first joint,’’ he told The Sun. “I did cocaine for about a year and a half; then it led to crack.’’
Mr. Haim said he went into rehabilitation and was put on prescription drugs. He took stimulants and sedatives.
“I started on the downers, which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers, because I was a nervous wreck,’’ he said.
In 2007, he told ABC’s “Nightline’’ that drugs had hurt his career.
“I wasn’t functional enough to work for anybody, even myself,’’ he said. “I wasn’t working.’’
The Toronto-born actor got his start in TV commercials at age 10 and developed a good reputation for his work in such films as 1985’s “Murphy’s Romance’’ and his portrayal of Liza Minnelli’s dying son in the 1985 television film “A Time to Live.’’
His career peaked when he became a heartthrob with his roles in the 1986 movie “Lucas’’ and “The Lost Boys’’ in 1987, in which he battled vampires.
In later years he made a few television appearances and was in several direct-to-video movies. He also had roles in a handful of recent movies that have not yet been released.
He recently appeared in the A&E reality show, “The Two Coreys’’ with Feldman. It was canceled in 2008 after two seasons. Feldman later said Mr. Haim’s drug abuse strained their working and personal relationships.
In 1997, Mr. Haim filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing debts for medical expenses and more than $200,000 in state and federal taxes. His assets included a few thousand dollars in cash, clothing, and royalty rights.
In a 2007 interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live,’’ Mr. Haim called himself “a chronic relapser for the rest of my life.’’
