For a brief window in the late 1980s, a shy teen from Toronto became one of Hollywood’s brightest young talents. And only a few years later, his world fell apart. Bankruptcy, addiction, and a heartbreaking public decline followed — so severe that he was once filmed asking strangers for pizza. When he died in 2010, the shock rippled through the entertainment world, and some of Hollywood’s biggest names openly mourned him.
This is the story of Corey Haim — how a sweet, soft-spoken child actor became one of Hollywood’s most painful cautionary tales.
Growing up in show business has always been difficult, and Corey Haim’s experience remains one of the starkest examples of the toll it can take. Born in December 1971 in Toronto, he was a quiet kid whose parents enrolled him in acting classes to help build his confidence. By ten, he was already appearing in commercials and soon landed a role on The Edison Twins.
His parents divorced during this time — something that deeply affected him. But in 1984, he earned his first major film role in Firstborn, playing Brian Livingston. His performance drew widespread praise and earned him a Young Artist Award nomination. Critic Roger Ebert wrote:
“He creates one of the most three-dimensional, complicated, interesting characters of any age in any recent movie… He is that good.”
Everything shifted in 1987 when Haim co-starred in The Lost Boys. His partnership with Corey Feldman made them instant teen icons — the “Two Coreys.” Fan clubs formed, magazines featured them constantly, and more roles followed. Eventually, they even starred in a reality show together, The Two Coreys.
A young actor overwhelmed by celebrity
As a teen idol, Haim was suddenly receiving thousands of fan letters from around the world. Fame was exciting, but it was also far more than he was ready for. At the 1988 premiere of License to Drive, a brief moment caught by reporters showed how dramatically fame had changed him. He made a joking but unsettling comment about showering with his girlfriend, then asked his mother if they were calling a limo.
Childhood, at that point, was already gone. He left school after eighth grade and became a regular at Alphy’s Soda Pop Club, a nightclub for underage actors inside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
The early stages of addiction
According to Mirror, Haim started drinking beer on the set of Lucas in 1986. By the time he filmed The Lost Boys, he was smoking marijuana. As he moved to Los Angeles, he experimented further, eventually trying cocaine and later crack. At eighteen, he entered rehab for the first time.
But recovery didn’t last.
Haim later described himself as a “chronic relapser,” battling addiction to cocaine and prescription medication. At his lowest point, reports say he was taking dozens of pills a day.
Dr. Nicki J. Monte, who treated him, said:
“[Haim] had a tremendous saboteur inside of him… He was under the spell of addiction, and he never truly broke free.”
As his substance issues deepened, acting roles dried up. He stepped away from Hollywood for nearly eight years, spending much of what money he had left on medical needs. At one desperate moment, he even tried selling personal items online.
Financial collapse and a painful public decline
At just twenty-five, Haim filed for bankruptcy in 1997. His listed assets were minimal: a 1987 BMW, one hundred dollars in cash, a few clothes, and a small amount of royalty income.
Around this time, an E! documentary showed just how much he was struggling. He lived in a modest apartment above a garage with his mother, appeared disoriented in interviews, and, in one memorable moment, asked for money for food while talking about a comeback.
He tried over and over again to get sober. When The Two Coreys ended in 2008 due to his worsening issues, he took out a full-page ad in Variety, writing:
“This is not a stunt. I’m back. I’m ready to work. I’m ready to make amends.”
Corey Haim’s final years and cause of death
Although he had short periods of sobriety, he never fully broke free from addiction. He once acknowledged that he barely left his apartment for years and gained over 150 pounds during that period.
On March 10, 2010, Corey Haim passed away at age thirty-eight.
Authorities initially suspected a medication-related death after finding several prescription bottles in his home. Reports later revealed that in the month before he died, he had obtained hundreds of pills under various names.
But the autopsy revealed something unexpected: Haim died of pneumonia — a natural cause.
Allegations after his death
His story didn’t end there. Corey Feldman later claimed that both he and Haim were harmed by influential figures in Hollywood when they were young. Haim’s mother challenged some aspects of Feldman’s claims but did acknowledge that her son had been harmed once by someone he knew.
In 2020, Feldman released a documentary titled My Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys, saying that Haim told him he had been assaulted on the set of Lucas when he was thirteen. Several people in the film supported the claim.
Charlie Sheen, whom the documentary accused, denied the allegations completely, calling them false and disturbing.
Remembering Corey Haim
Every photo, every movie clip, is a reminder of the talented, gentle boy Corey Haim had once been — and of the life he might have lived if fame, pressure, and Hollywood’s darker corners hadn’t overwhelmed him so young.
His legacy lives in the fans who still cherish his work and in the countless people who remember him not for his struggles, but for the joy he brought to their screens.
If Corey Haim’s story touched you, feel free to share it. His life was short, but the talent he brought to the world continues to be remembered.