The world was shocked by the sudden death of legendary comedian Garry Shandling. As RadarOnline.com readers know, the star died at the young age of 66 in his Santa Monica home.
Though one year earlier Shandling had been given a clean bill of health, Dr. Michael Hunter believes it was the funnyman’s pill habit and rocky medical history what eventually killed him.
“I’ve discovered that Garry’s spleen was removed after a serious car accident in the mid 1970s. The surgery would’ve left him prone to recurring pain for the rest of his life,” says Hunter in REELZ’s new docuseries Autopsy: Garry Shandling.
Eyewitness accounts state that, at times, Shandling was taking large amounts of over-the-counter pain reliever Excedrin.
At the height of his fame, during the making of his hit The Larry Sanders Show, Shandling’s use of the drug became excessive.
“Every day, every day,” recalls Shandling’s ex-girlfriend and former co-star Linda Doucett. She adds that his drug dependency lasted four or five years, through the filming of the show.
He died on March 24, 2016.
Autopsy: Garry Shandling airs Monday, September 2 at 9 ET/ PT on REELZ.