Tyler Christopher's tragic life: General Hospital and Days of Our Lives actor ... trends now
General Hospital star Tyler Christopher, who died Tuesday at 50, had been candid about the battles with alcohol addiction and bipolar disorder which haunted him for much of his life.
Christopher in March of 2022 sat down for an in-depth interview with his friend and colleague Maurice Bernard on Bernard's podcast about mental health, "State of Mind.
Christopher told Bernard that he understood that drinking led down a deadly path, saying, 'At some point, you cannot survive it' and that 'at some point, it will kill you - and it has.'
Christopher revealed on the podcast that he had 'flatlined' three times after alcohol-related incidents.
'Nobody knows that,' he said. 'Three times I have flatlined, and they brought me back. Twice from poisoning, once from withdrawal.'
Details: General Hospital star Tyler Christopher, who died Tuesday at 50, had been candid about the battles with alcohol addiction and bipolar disorder which haunted him for much of his life. He was pictured on a podcast in March of 2022 discussing his issues
The actor played the role of Nikolas Cassadine on 1,153 episodes of General Hospital from 1996 to 2016.
For his work on the series, he earned four daytime Emmy nominations and in 2016, he won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
In the years following, he portrayed Stefan DiMera on 159 episodes of another stalwart soap in Days of Our Lives, from 2018 to 2019.
On the podcast, Christopher said he was 'crushed' when his alcohol problems impacted him professionally, leading to his departures from both high-profile soap operas, according to Soaps In-Depth.
'I took for granted the one thing I love the most,' he said. 'It was devastating for a myriad of reasons. One, the thing that I love the most was taken away. Two, I threw it away. Nobody took it away from me. I dropped it, okay?
'Having to walk out those doors under that circumstance, was like, "Wow, this is for real, dude." This is for real.'
Christopher said that after introspection, he accepted responsibility for the impact his addiction had on his life.
'My pride and ego were very quick to intervene - "Who can I blame for this?" - and when I looked in the mirror, there was only one person to point the finger at,' he said.
The actor had been plagued by legal problems involving alcohol in recent years, including a November 2019 public intoxication arrest in Indiana on his birthday
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Christopher in March of 2022 sat down for an in-depth interview with his friend and colleague Maurice Benard on Benard's podcast about mental health, State of Mind, in an exchange he described as '100% real and honest'
The show's Maurice Benard announced the tragic news on Instagram Tuesday
In the exchange, Christopher told Benard that the first time he had consumed liquor, he was nine-years-old and in the third grade after one of his peers encouraged him to try vanilla extract.
'Some idiot said, "There's alcohol in there; if you drink it, you'll get funny, silly,"' he said. 'So what's the first thing I do when I go home? I go in the cabinet and my mom had vanilla extract from left to right.
'And I took every one. And exactly what my friends told me would happen, happened. That's how it started, and it never stopped.'
The actor had been plagued by legal problems involving alcohol in recent years: He was arrested six months ago after passing out drunk at an LA airport, which marked his second public intoxication arrest in three years.
Christopher was found on the floor fast asleep at Burbank Airport in Los Angeles this past May 26, when police were alerted to the snoozing soap star and woke him, according to TMZ.
Christopher told the authorities he had missed his flight before he was handcuffed and booked for public intoxication.
The authorities said Christopher displayed clear signs of being intoxicated and that he was 'unable to care for himself,' according to the news outlet.
He was released shortly after his arrest and given a court date, the news outlet reported.
Christopher was pictured in 2018 in Pasadena, California at the NBCUniversal Winter Press Tour
Christopher in a 2010 scene with actress Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) during their days together on the long-running soap General Hospital
Christopher, pictured in 2018, said he was 'crushed' when his alcohol problems impacted him professionally, leading to his departures from both high-profile soap operas
In late November 2019, Christopher was arrested for public intoxication in his hometown of Martinsville, Indiana, forcing him to spend his 47th birthday behind bars, TMZ reported.
In an incident on November 11, 2019, an Uber driver had alerted officers to Christopher's behavior after he allegedly passed out and urinated on himself after he'd been dropped off at his home. He had 2 fifths of bourbon on her person at the time, according to the outlet.
Authorities said in legal docs reviews by the outlet that police had taken nine reports in connection with Christopher's drunken behavior in the two-month span beginning September 14.
In one incident November 8, 2019 at a Walgreens, a person reported that Christopher had been trying to get inside of their vehicle. Police who detained the actor said that he had sported possible head injuries as he had been bleeding from his nose and urinated in his pants.
Authorities transported Christopher to a nearby emergency room for an examination and a breathalyzer test, which his BAC showed as
