Yesterday, we heard the tragic news that John Heard had passed away.
He was 72 years old.
John, an actor best known for his roles in the Home Alone movies and for his stint on The Sopranos, was found dead in a hotel room on Friday in Palo Alto, California.
Hotel staff called for help, but he was pronounced dead as soon as police arrived on the scene.
At this point, his death is being investigated by the coroner — there was no obvious cause, but foul play is not suspected.
Interestingly, his rep revealed that just two days before John’s body was found, he had a minor back surgery. He was staying at the hotel while he recovered.
So what happened? Did he experience some complications from the surgery? Did he have other unknown health issues?
Obviously, we won’t know for sure until the coroner releases a report.
But in the meantime, John’s third wife, Lana Pritchard, believes she knows what happened to the beloved actor.
Lana, who was married to John for seven months in 2010 but who remained close with him, says in an interview with Radar Online that she was “heartbroken” to hear the news of his death.
“I cannot believe John is dead,” she states. “His second wife Sharon phoned me with the news and then I saw it all over social media.”
And then she drops the bomb:
“I firmly believe that he died from an accidental overdose from the pain medication after the surgery.”
An accidental overdose? It’s possible, we suppose — anything is.
She says that “He was in so much pain from sciatica that he had problems walking and it was really getting him down.”
Lana also adds that, in the past few years, his sciatica had gotten worse, but he was scared of taking painkillers because he didn’t want to get addicted.
“John told his doctor that the medication changed his moods so he was placed on a low dosage,” she explains, “but I know he was in a lot of pain.”
Another layer to the issue is that John’s son, Max, passed away at the age of 22 back in December — and Lana alleges that Max died from an overdose.
She claims that John “had struggled to come to terms with the death of his son Max from an overdose,” and that he also “hated being riddled with pain as he wanted to be active.”
“I spoke with him on Tuesday before the surgery,” she continues, “and he was in positive spirits but he did not want anyone to help him — I feel so bad because I think I could have done more.”
“He was a kind guy and we have known each other for many years. I’m worried that he lay in the hotel room dead for a few days, that is very sad.”
It really, really is.
“I am going to miss John,” Lana concludes. “He always took time for his fans and he was at heart a good person and a really talented actor too, he was liked by a lot of people.”
Whatever caused his death, it really does seem like his work touched a lot of people.
RIP, John.
