'General Hospital' Star Tyler Christopher's Cause of Death Confirmed

Tyler Christopher's cause of death has been revealed. The General Hospital star died last October at 50 years old "following a cardiac event," GH star Maurice Benard confirmed on Instagram. Not much information was revealed surrounding his death, but now TMZ is reporting that he suffocated to death while drunk. The outlet obtained reports from the Medical Examiner's Office, which lists "positional asphyxia due to acute alcohol intoxication" as the official cause of death. The contributing condition is cited as coronary artery atherosclerosis.

The actor suffocated to death, both due to how he was positioned when he passed and because of alcohol, as plaque had built up in his arteries. His death is being ruled an accident. It's unknown how much alcohol was in his system. TMZ previously reported that a friend had found him deceased at his apartment in San Diego after failing to get a hold of him.

About six months prior to his death, Christopher was arrested for public intoxication. The Days of Our Lives alum was allegedly sleeping on the ground at the Burbank airport, with Burbank police reporting that he showed "clear and objective signs" of intoxication and couldn't care for himself. In November 2019, he plead guilty to two counts of public intoxication for different incidents in the same weekend during his 47th birthday celebrations. Fans had reacted to Christopher's arrest, expressing their sadness and disappointment.

Tyler Christopher was most known as Nikolas Cassadine on General Hospital between 1996 and 2016. He also briefly portrayed Connor Bishop, the presumed dead husband of Catherine Wadkins' Mary Bishop. He portrayed Stefan DiMera on Days of Our Lives from 2017 to 2019, with other roles including The Lying Game, Crossing Jordan, Family Law, and The Twilight Zone. Christopher's final role was the 2023 TV movie Ice Storm, starring alongside Ashley Ahlquist, William Baldwin, Grant Bowler, and Ace Christensen.

Maurice Bernard's Instagram post highlighted Christopher's openness about his struggles and praised him for his talent and advocacy for mental health. "Tyler was a truly talented individual that lit up the screen in every scene he performed and relished bringing joy to his loyal fans through his acting," Bernard wrote. "Tyler was an advocate for better mental health and substance use treatment who openly spoke about his bipolar depression and alcohol. We are beyond devastated by the loss of our dear friend and pray for his children and his father."