Overdose? Foul Play? What Did Jeff Conaway Autopsy Reveal?

No word yet whether drugs played a role in the troubled actor's death; meanwhile, grieving relatives plan his funeral

By Josh Grossberg May 31, 2011 7:05 PMTags
Jeff ConawayJesse Grant/WireImage

Did Jeff Conaway die of an overdose or a fatal combination of pneumonia and blood poisoing? And was foul play involved?

Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter tells E! News that an autopsy was performed yesterday on the Grease star, who died Friday at the age of 60 after being taken off life support.

However, the answers to the questions surrounding Conaway's death haven't quite been answered.

Winter said the official cause of death won't be disclosed for several weeks until toxicology tests come back.

Celebrity Rehab's Dr. Drew Pinksy, who became friends with the actor, told E! News last week, "There's no evidence Jeff died from an overdose" of painkillers.

"This was aspiration with overwhelming pneumonia and sepsis," said Pinksy. "Jeff is another example of a pharmaceutical death from the overutilization of prescription drugs."

Conaway, who had publicly struggled for years with substance abuse, had been taken to an L.A.-area hospital May 11 after being found unconscious at his home, and his manager initially blamed an overdose of prescription medication.

The Taxi thesp subsequently fell into a coma and his condition worsened, prompting his older sister, Carla Shreve, to make the difficult decision to remove his feeding tube and the ventilator that kept him alive.

According to an anonymously sourced RadarOnline report, Conaway's family asked for the autopsy "to rule out any foul play" and "set their minds to rest."

In the meantime, Winter said the actor's body has been released to his family and is now at Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries.

No word yet when services will take place or whether there will be a public memorial, but Shreve has said that the family plans to have Conaway's remains cremated and kept among family members.

In the wake of his passing, Conaway's friends and former costars, including Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, offered their condolences and words of tribute for the man known as Kenickie.

Shreve told TMZ that Travolta, who called his fellow T-Bird "a wonderful and decent man," also provided some comfort by sending both flowers and food to grieving relatives over the weekend.