The untimely death of Bobbi Kristina Brown on Sunday is another painful reminder that stardom comes at a high price. Too often, reputations are sullied after celebrities are exposed to the high life where drugs (including those prescribed by doctors) are par for the course. And it isn’t long before they are putting on brave faces for the paparazzi and their fans, while concealing their vice.
In this era of social media, where scandals spread in a Tweet, it’s hard to conceal much.
That’s where Autopsy: The Last Hours of… comes in, with celebrated forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd revisiting the deaths of some of Hollywood’s most prominent figures.
Tonight got to chat to Shepherd, who acknowledges that there definitely is a sort of common thread linked to the untimely deaths of Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, Whitney Houston, Michael Hutchence, Brittany Murphy, Karen Carpenter, River Phoenix and Elvis Presley.
No stranger to consulting on TV shows, having appeared on the UK’s Silent Witness and Death Detective, the sexagenarian notes: “I think there is a thread that runs through a number of them. The relationships with their (the celebrities’) doctor changed from being one with the doctor being a confidential advisor. They were using doctors like a sort of pimp. They go and say: ‘I want valium or this or that’. Because they were rich and famous, they could. They were telling the doctor what they wanted and the doctor lost the power to say ‘No’.”
He also reveals that some of them had more than one doctor. That, of course, is a dangerous path to tread.
This show comprises a factual part, which is where Shepherd comes in, and a dramatic reenactment, capturing the 24 hours prior to the demise of these idols. The reconstructed scenes are inspired by archived material.
He shares: “People often get the wrong idea and make the wrong deductions based on the little snatches of news and information they get. This show tries to put the record straight. In my daily life, I explain complex facts to laypeople. My job is to help the viewers understand the medical components and put it together and present it in a way that makes sense. In other words, unravel the technical aspects.”
Given that these were high-powered figures, it would be forgivable to assume that there was a lot of bureaucracy in securing their autopsy reports. The reality is that it was relatively easy for the show’s researchers.
Shepherd says: “There is, interestingly, not a lot of red tape. Like Michael Jackson, for example. There was a huge amount of public information. A whole series of things written on his life and death. The autopsy report contained a huge amount of factual information. That was the kernel of what I wanted to get to for the truth.”
This documentary reveals that the King of Pop was plagued by many medical issues – complications from his many plastic surgeries, a rare skin condition, arthritis, severely damaged lungs, an enlarged prostate and partial baldness. Of course, this leads to the revelation that he had a bewildering number of drugs coursing this through his veins. His addiction had spiraled out of control.
Now digging up the past, so to speak, can stir the hornet’s nest. But Shepherd says the stories are told with the utmost sensitivity to loved ones.
He says: “We are trying to make sure we put it all into an accurate context and, in so doing, dispel a lot of rumours. Sometimes the reality is far less worse than the fantasy. I hope the family won’t be surprised by what we say.”
Every episode unveils some startling truths: from a singer trying to revive her career, the hard life of a Playboy pin-up model, a rock’s star sex and drugs lifestyle, an actress’ paranoid personality fuelled by prescription drugs to a singer with a serious eating disorder, among others.
One subject bound to pique curiosity is Elvis Presley.
Shepherd jokes: “That’s for the next interview.” He adds: “Elvis was definitely one of the saddest cases. It was a situation of, if only he had listened to what the doctors had said about his cholesterol.”
When asked about his thoughts on Kristina Brown, he offers: “Whitney’s story was sad. Like so many, she was addicted to so many things. In the end, it was a combination or drugs and lifestyle. I do wonder if she (Bobbi) copied her mum.”
Autopsy: The Last Hours of…, ITV Choice (DStv channel 123) from tonight at 9.55pm.