Corey Haim seemed set for success comparable to his brat-pack contemporaries, but personal problems scuppered his career.

Haim did not come from a showbiz family but his parents, concerned at his shyness, put him into acting classes. By ten he was appearing in commercials, and in the mid 80s had a regular role in the TV comedy series The Edison Twins. After a few films, he scored a hit as Liza Minelli's dying son in the 1985 TV movie A Time to Live. In the post-divorce Murphy's Romance he played Sally Field's son, though it got limited distribution after a troubled production period.

After starring in the sub-John Hughes teen-comedy Lucas (1986) he fought teenage vampires in The Lost Boys (1987). A cult hit, it made Haim and his co-stars teen idols. It also introduced him to some important long-term friends and collaborators, notably Corey Feldman.

But he was succumbing to addiction, from cocaine through to crack, and eventually prescription drugs. The struggle crippled his career: the 90s saw a series of poor films and straight-to-video releases. Eventually his manager, Lost Boys co-star Brooke McCarter, dropped him and in 1997 he filed for bankruptcy.

But he fought his way back, and in 2004 declared himself clean. In The Two Coreys (2007-8), a semi-improvised television series, he is the slobbish houseguest of his clean-living old friend Corey Feldman. But even Haim recognised the precariousness of his recovery, admitting to Larry King that he was a "chronic relapser". When his problems returned Feldman refused to work with him until he had cleaned up. In 2008 Haim paid for a page in Variety advertising his readiness to work and indeed there are several films awaiting release while others in pre-production, including two that he was slated to direct, will have to replace him.

Corey Ian Haim, actor, was born on December 23, 1971. He died March 10, 2010, aged 38.