Nick Adams, a Hollywood movie and television actor, was found dead in his Beverly Hills on Feb. 7, 1968 of an apparent overdose from prescription drug intoxication. He was 36 years old. Though his death was ruled neither an accident nor suicide, some speculated that Adams may have been murdered.
Nick Adams appeared in many movies and TV shows of the late 1950's and 1960's. He is best known for his character "Johnny Yuma" of the TV western series, "The Rebel".
On the night of February 7, 1968 his lawyer and friend, ex-LAPD officer Erwin Roeder, drove to the actor's house at 2126 El Roble Lane in Beverly Hills to check on him after a missed dinner appointment. Seeing a light on and his car in the garage, Roeder broke through a window and discovered Adams in his upstairs bedroom, slumped dead against a wall.
During the autopsy Dr. Thomas Noguchi found enough paraldehyde, sedatives and other drugs in the body "to cause instant unconsciousness." The death certificate lists "paraldehyde and promazine intoxication" as the immediate cause of death along with the notation accident; suicide; undetermined. During the 1960s drug interaction warnings were not so prominent as they later would be and the American Medical Association has subsequently warned these two types of drugs should never be taken together.
The death of Nick Adams has been cited in articles and books about Hollywood's unsolved mysteries along with speculation by a few of Adams' acquaintances he was murdered (but apparently with no motive ever offered) and claims no trace of paraldehyde (a liquid sedative often given to alcoholics at the time and one of two drugs attributed to his death) was ever found in his home.
Here are some links:
Nick Adams (actor) biography, Death, Hollywood career, Struggling
NICK ADAMS: THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH of THE REBEL
Nick Adams - IMDb
Nick Adams (1931-1968) - Find A Grave Memorial
Nick Adams appeared in many movies and TV shows of the late 1950's and 1960's. He is best known for his character "Johnny Yuma" of the TV western series, "The Rebel".
On the night of February 7, 1968 his lawyer and friend, ex-LAPD officer Erwin Roeder, drove to the actor's house at 2126 El Roble Lane in Beverly Hills to check on him after a missed dinner appointment. Seeing a light on and his car in the garage, Roeder broke through a window and discovered Adams in his upstairs bedroom, slumped dead against a wall.
During the autopsy Dr. Thomas Noguchi found enough paraldehyde, sedatives and other drugs in the body "to cause instant unconsciousness." The death certificate lists "paraldehyde and promazine intoxication" as the immediate cause of death along with the notation accident; suicide; undetermined. During the 1960s drug interaction warnings were not so prominent as they later would be and the American Medical Association has subsequently warned these two types of drugs should never be taken together.
The death of Nick Adams has been cited in articles and books about Hollywood's unsolved mysteries along with speculation by a few of Adams' acquaintances he was murdered (but apparently with no motive ever offered) and claims no trace of paraldehyde (a liquid sedative often given to alcoholics at the time and one of two drugs attributed to his death) was ever found in his home.
Here are some links:
Nick Adams (actor) biography, Death, Hollywood career, Struggling
NICK ADAMS: THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH of THE REBEL
Nick Adams - IMDb
Nick Adams (1931-1968) - Find A Grave Memorial
