REELZ will profile the deaths of some of America's favorite funny men on "The Comedians Night” of Autopsy on Sunday, November 17. The lives and passings of Chris Farley, John Belushi, Richard Pryor, John Candy and Garry Shandling will be featured on the special.
Chris Farley passed away from a drug overdose on December 18, 1997 at the age of 33. The SNL star was found in his Chicago apartment with blood-tinged froth around his mouth, which indicated pulmonary edema. However, the autopsy report also showed that he had morphine in his system.
"Chris was using crack cocaine the night he died. But the toxicology report also revealed that he had morphine in his blood. This turns my investigation on its head," forensic pathologist and Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Hunter said in the preview clip.
John Belushi died on March 5, 1982 at the famed Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood, California. He was 33.
"What I'm asking myself is did cocaine directly result in his death? Cocaine is unpredictable and it's not necessarily dose-dependent. So any amount of cocaine in someone's system can cause cardiac arrest. People who use cocaine put themselves at risk for sudden death," Dr. Michael explained.
Richard Pryor died at the age of 55 on December 10, 2005. His official cause of death was a heart attack, but Dr. Michael took a look into his long history of substance abuse.
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"I've established that at the peak of his career, [Richard] was drinking heavily and using a large amount of cocaine. By mixing these two substances, [Richard]'s body is actually synthesizing a third called cocaethylene. It has the same effect as cocaine, but it lasts much longer. The downside is that this is just increasing the amount of damage that cocaine is doing to [Richard]'s cardiovascular system," he revealed.
Tune-in to REELZ on Sunday, November 17 for the special edition of I.
Watch REELZ on DIRECTV 238, Dish Network 299, Verizon FiOS 692, AT&T U-verse 1799 and in HD on cable systems nationwide. Find REELZ on your local cable or satellite provider at www.reelz.com.
