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Actor Michael K. Williams Died Of Accidental Drug Overdose, Medical Examiner Says
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David Cruz
Published Sep 25, 2021
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Matt Baron/Shutterstock
By
David Cruz
Published Sep 25, 2021
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The city medical examiner determined on Friday that actor Michael K. Williams died from an accidental drug overdose.
Williams died from "acute intoxication by the combined effects of fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin and cocaine," according to an autopsy statement from the medical examiner. He was 54. The medical examiner's office declined to comment further.
Williams was found inside his Kent Avenue apartment in Williamsburg on September 6th at 2 p.m. His nephew reportedly found Williams dead and police suspected a drug overdose. WNBC-TV reported that drug paraphernalia had been found inside Williams' apartment at the time of his death. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can produce a high 50 times greater than heroin alone.
Time Out reported that organizers are planning to unveil a mural Saturday in memory of Williams in Fort Greene, near his childhood home.
Williams was born in Brooklyn, and became an actor shortly after working as a background dancer for Missy Elliott, Ginuwine, and Technotronix. Williams rose to fame in his role as the enigmatic Omar Little, a thief who robbed drug dealers in Baltimore, in the HBO crime series The Wire. Shortly after the series wrapped, Williams had a starring role as bootlegger Albert "Chalky" White in the HBO period crime drama Boardwalk Empire.
For years, Williams had struggled with addiction, speaking openly about it in several interviews. In a 2012 interview with the Newark Star-Ledger, Williams said he was "playing with fire" when using drugs.
“Eventually, I got so sick and tired of this charade. No one who was in my circle, who knew me as Mike, was allowing me to get high," Williams told the publication at the time. "I had to slip away to do drugs. I had to hide it. I’d be gone for days at a time. I was lonely in that part of my life."
In a February interview on WNYC's All of It, Williams promoted his film, Body Brokers, that focused on drug addiction. In his interview he said drugs are "a symptom of the problem."
"Just because a person puts down their drug of choice, it doesn't mean all their character defects go away, their skewed moral compass automatically goes back to the balance line," Williams said at the time. "That requires a lot of work, a lot of self-reflection... and the road to recovery is messy, it's sloppy, people relapse."
According to NPR, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea had approached Williams earlier this year on a possible collaboration with the department on community outreach.
Williams was nominated for four Emmy Awards for acting roles in Bessie, The Night Of, When They See Us, and Lovecraft Country. He was also nominated for the TV show Vice, in a producer credit. Producers for this year's Emmys included him in their "In Memoriam" segment.
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obituary
the wire
boardwalk empire
David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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