After making his mark on the soap opera landscape with a career that included over a thousand episodes of General Hospital, Tyler Christopher passed away on Oct. 31, 2023, at age 50.

News of the award-winning daytime television star’s death was sudden and unexplained when it hit gossip sites last year, and fans have been waiting to find out exactly what happened. Now, with a coroner’s report publicly available, we know what happened.

How did Tyler Christopher die?

According to the San Diego Medical Examiner, Tyler Christopher passed away as a result of “positional asphyxia due to acute alcohol intoxication,” with coronary artery atherosclerosis listed as a contributing factor.

Christopher was open about his struggles with mental health and substance abuse. In March 2022, he appeared on the State of Mind with Maurice Benard video podcast and claimed to have “flatlined” on three separate occasions as a result of his drinking – “twice from drinking and once from withdrawal.” Additionally, in 2019, he was reported to have injured his head in a fall caused by delirium tremens, leading to the surgical removal of part of his skull. The incident ended with Christopher in a conservatorship under his sister, which became dramatic and legally contentious in its own right. He would later sue his sister, alleging guardianship abuse. 

Christopher’s life doesn’t make for an easy read. While there were ups, like a 2016 Daytime Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his work on General Hospital, there were also, inarguably, bleak lows. The actor had also been arrested on multiple occasions for public intoxication, was reportedly homeless in Los Angeles for six months while trying to find work, and struggled publicly with bipolar disorder. 

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