The beloved actor Michael K. Williams died after overdosing on fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin and cocaine. The New York chief medical examiner told reporters on Friday.
The autopsy results were shared in a short statement that read: “Cause of death: Acute intoxication by the combined effects of fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin and cocaine. Manner of death: Accident.”
Williams, 54, was found dead at his home in Brooklyn on September 6th. The death was ruled an accident.
Williams was a dancer before he began acting, becoming best known for his role as Omar Little in The Wire. Among other TV roles, he also starred in Boardwalk Empire and received an Emmy nomination this year for a role in Lovecraft Country. Other notable film roles included 12 Years a Slave and Inherent Vice.
Williams was open about his drug use and addiction history, sharing that he started secretly using cocaine while filming The Wire in 2004.
The Wire, an ambitious survey of crime, law and order and politics in Baltimore, is widely seen as one of the most outstanding television series ever made. In 2015, Williams told the Guardian he struggled following its success.
“I was in a different place in life,” he says. “I was using Omar as a means of escape. Now I don’t use my job as a way to define me: it’s what I do, not who I am. I have that understanding now.”
In a 2012 interview with Inside Jersey, he shared, “I was playing with fire. It was just a matter of time before I got caught and my business ended up on the cover of a tabloid, or I went to jail or, worse, I ended up dead. When I look back on it now, I don’t know how I didn’t end up in a body bag.”
A mural in tribute to Williams is due to be unveiled this weekend in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
“The inspiration for the piece is to pay homage to a Brooklyn son, artist and activist who touched so many with his art and heart,” Sally Rumble, the artist behind the mural, told Time Out.
