14 DAY TRIAL // Lisa Robin Kelly, the actress who played Laurie Forman on hit TV series “That ‘70s Show,” has died. She was 43 years old but had had a very rough time these past few years, often making headlines for getting arrested, and her addiction to alcohol and drugs, as well as her inability to overcome her issues.
TMZ reports that she died this week in rehab. She’d entered a program earlier the same week, after her boyfriend drove her there.
According to the e-zine, she was determined to stay sober.
“The 43-year-old actress passed away in her sleep Wednesday night at a rehab facility in California. We spoke with Kelly's agent who tells us the actress had just voluntarily checked herself in for treatment for an alcohol problem this past week and was determined to clean herself up,” TMZ writes.
Kelly’s agent has confirmed the death, saying, “She had been fighting demons for a while and finally lost her battle.”
She went into cardiac arrest while she was sleeping and, by the time medics arrived on the scene, she was already dead.
Sources reveal for the publication that, right before rehab, Kelly went on a binge prompted by another fight with her abusive ex-husband, the same one who beat her up in May trying to get her to hand over to him residual pay she got from the show that made her a star.
Because of this, Kelly’s boyfriend blames her ex for her relapse and death.
“When emergency responders arrived at the rehab facility, they found needle marks on both of Lisa's arms,” TMZ notes.
“However, her BF tells us the reason for the needle marks is that he took Lisa to a hospital on Sunday – because she had a .34 blood alcohol level and nurses made multiple attempts to insert a needle into her vein to extract blood,” the report adds.
In June this year, Kelly was arrested again for DUI, prompting talk that her problems were really getting out of hand. As reports have it, she really saw this rehab stint as her last chance at sobriety.