RIP Corey Haim

by **kappa99** on Wed 10 Mar 2010, 3:31 pm

Corey Haim, the star of The Lost Boys and Lucas, has died aged 38. We pay tribute to an actor who grew up in the limelight, but whose adult career was spent sadly in search of it

The road to adulthood for the child star is frequently a rocky one. For Corey Haim, who has died at the age of 38, it proved, in the end, too much to negotiate. Haim's guileless, fun-loving, all-American brand of youth and confidence won him many admirers. But it was a hard brand to carry into adulthood.

Born in Toronto in 1971, Haim enrolled in acting lessons to help cure his shyness. He proved a natural, with a great grin and an easy way with a one-liner, which won him a small role, aged 12, on TV show The Edison Twins.

His debut feature film was Firstborn, an early vehicle for then-couple Robert Downey Jr and Sarah Jessica Parker.

But it was, however, a supporting role, as were his parts in Secret Admirer and Murphy's Romance.

His first lead was nothing if not ambitious: as a sweet-natured but mischievous paraplegic in a very spooky and rather accomplished adaptation by Stephen King of his novella Cycle of the Werewolf, about a small town community terrorised by a half-man, half-beast. It was a performance of sweetness and subtlety in a rather adult film notable for the high quality of its child stars; Haim's sister was played by Megan Follows, a fellow Canadian who took the lead in the big-budget TV adaptation of Anne of Green Gables.

The film won good notices, and Haim was a fairly hot property: for TV movie A Time to Live he won the Young Artist award as an Exceptional Young Actor Starring in a Television Special or Movie of the Week.

But his major break came in 1986, when he won equal billing alongside Kerri Green, Charlie Sheen, and Winona Ryder in Lucas.

As the cute, bespectacled geek who wins round a whole town and, unwittingly, enables romance, he won a legion of fans. The success of the film led to a TV series of his own, Roomies.

But it was a return to the themes of Silver Bullet - siblings, werewolves and smalltown America - that resulted in Haim's best-loved film, The Lost Boys (1987). Joel Schumacher's cult classic was, though not his strongest, certainly his definitive role, not least because it marketed the beginning of his partnership with Corey Feldman: another child star, with whom he starred in over 10 films and, later, a reality TV show. Here we see him at his sudsy, youthful best, singing in the bath, blissfully unaware of his brothers troubles. It's a charming, carefree snapshot of young teenage life; part Fred Savage, part Macaulay Culkin.

The following year, Haim and Feldman co-starred in two more films together, teen comedy License to Drive, about a dream date thrown into jeopardy when the lead fails his driving test.

And then a horror film, Watchers, in which Haim takes in a genetically mutated mutt.

Haim won his second Young Artist Award, tying Feldman for the Best Young Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Fantasy award for License to Drive.

In 1989, they cemented the partnership with the film Dream a Little Dream, which gave rise to a No 1 single, 'Rock On', sung by Michael Damian, with the pair appearing in the song's music video.

That year Haim released a self-promotional video documentary entitled Corey Haim: Me, Myself, and I.

It makes for strange viewing: Haim seems both out of his depth, completely carried away with his lifestyle, and keenly aware of the challenges he faces, as well as terribly ambitious (he wants to write, direct and make music). He also looks terribly young. And sounds it, particularly when comparing kissing to dolphins.

The early 90s were considerably less successful. A string of straight-to-video titles was followed by a full motion video game called Double Switch and sequels to Fast Getaway, Last Resort and Dream a Little Dream.

But even this harking back to past glories couldn't quite save his career. After a handful more direct-to-video films and flops, he filed for bankruptcy in 1997.

The early years of the new millennium were spent trying to get back in the business and in and out of rehab. "I started on the downers which were a hell of a lot better than the uppers because I was a nervous wreck," he recalled. "But one led to two, two led to four, four led to eight, until at the end it was about 85 a day — the doctors could not believe I was taking that much. And that was just the Valium — I'm not talking about the other pills I went through".

He seemed increasingly consigned to being defined by his previous career. There was an E! True Hollywood Story in 2001; a sad cameo in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. But by 2004 he had resettled in Toronto and appeared to have overcome his drug habit, and in late 2006, he and Feldman took steps to embrace their lot by co-starring in a reality show, The Two Coreys.

There was some controversy - rebutted by both actors - that the show was scripted, a stunt. But neither actor showed themselves to major advantage.

And the two eventually fell out entirely in 2008 after Feldman allegedly said he'd break all ties until Haim was truly drug free.

Last year he joined the cast of Shark City; he was also in Crank 2: High Voltage. He was unusually frank in promotional interviews - too frank perhaps - allowing himself to be seen as himself, smoking, in a car park, rather than protected, in a TV studio.

2010 was, however, shaping up to be a busy year for Haim: he had no less than 10 films on his schedule. Some of these are no doubt in the can. Some are doubtless rather good. It's a real shame Haim is no longer around the reap any rewards.