(Verne Troyer as he appeared in a Facebook post announcing his death in 2018. Photo by Paul Mobley.)
As the Who2 obituary desk looks back on the major deaths of 2018, we find that one particularly sad detail has been cleared up: the cause of death of Verne Troyer.
Vern Troyer is the diminutive actor best known as Mini-Me in the Austin Powers films of Mike Myers. Troyer died at age 49 on April 21, but no cause of death was given at the time. His family praised him in a Facebook post which included the statement, “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… Depression and suicide are very serious issues.”
Last month the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner released a statement titled “Cause and Manner of Death Determined for Verne Troyer.” It read, in part:
Actor Verne Troyer, who passed away at a hospital in April, was found to have died from sequelae of alcohol intoxication, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner determined.
On April 3, Verne Jay Troyer (DOB: 1/1/69) of North Hollywood was taken by paramedics from his home located in the 8000 block of Teesdale Avenue in North Hollywood to a hospital in Van Nuys for reported alcohol intoxication.
Three weeks later, on April 21, Troyer was pronounced dead at the hospital at 11:27 a.m.
On April 22, an autopsy was performed on Troyer and a cause of death was deferred pending further investigation.
It was later determined Troyer died from sequelae of alcohol intoxication.
The manner of death was certified as a suicide.
The term sequelae is from the same root as sequel, meaning that the death was a resulting consequence of his heavy use of alcohol. In other (and sadder) words, Troyer drank himself to death. The actor reportedly made a 911 call saying he wanted to die, then repeated the phrase to emergency room doctors.
About that gap from April 3 to April 21: he was on life support. “Troyer was placed on life support, including a ventilator to assist in his breathing. Unfortunately, he never recovered and his body began shutting down before ultimately passing away on April 21 at 11:20 AM.”
Verne Troyer had spoken openly of his struggles with alcohol, making his passing all the sadder. We’re sorry to see him go, but we thank the LA County Medical Examiner for getting it all out into the open. We have revised his profile to list “suicide” as the cause of death.
See our full Verne Troyer biography »