What Really Happened to Lance Kerwin?
Lance Kerwin, the former child actor best known for his roles in the coming-of-age drama 'James at 16' and the Stephen King miniseries 'Salem’s Lot', died on January 24, 2023, at the age of 62.
Career
Rising to fame in the 1970s, Kerwin appeared in more than 50 television shows and films throughout his career. His breakout role came in James at 16 (originally James at 15), where he played a teenager adjusting to life in Boston after relocating from Oregon — a performance that made him a teen heartthrob during the show’s 1977–1978 run.
Kerwin’s other credits included appearances on Wonder Woman, Little House on the Prairie, The Family Holvak, The New Lassie, and Insight, as well as a role in the 1995 film Outbreak. After a long hiatus from acting, he recently returned to the screen with a small part in the independent film The Wind & the Reckoning.
Wife and children
Kerwin was the father of five children: a daughter, Savanah Paige, with his first wife, Kristen Lansdale, and four children—Fox, Terah, Kailani, and Justus—with his wife of over 20 years, Yvonne Kerwin.
How did Lance Kerwin die?
According to early reports, Kerwin died at the Oceana Boutique Hotel in San Clemente, California on January 24, 2023 at the age of 62 of multiple drug overdose, including fentanyl, amphetamine, methamphetamine and morphine.
However, an alternative cause and location of death has since been reported: the actor is believed to have died of ischemic heart disease and atherosclerotic coronary artery disease at his home in San Clemente, California.
While the full truth is unclear, Kerwin reportedly began using marijuana at age 10 and progressed to crack cocaine in his 20s. In 1989, he was jailed on drug possession charges but was later found not guilty.