John Heard Death Updates: Cardiac Arrest Claimed Actor's Life, Medical Examiner Reveals
Almost a month after he was found dead, John Heard's cause of death has finally been confirmed.
It was on July 21 when Heard, who is best known as Peter McCallister/Kevin's (Macaulay Culkin) father in the two "Home Alone" movies, was discovered dead in his hotel room in Palo Alto, California. After the speculations on his back surgery possibly playing a role on his death, the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office has revealed to People that the actor died of a sudden cardiac death due to atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease.
While it is true that Heard was known for his role in the two "Home Alone" blockbusters in the 1990s, the actor actually had more than 200 credits on stage and in the movies. On stage, he is known for his respective roles in the plays "Warp" and "The Glass Menagerie."
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As far as his career on the silver screen is concerned, Heard also lent his acting chops to a number of movies, including "Gladiator," "The Pelican Brief," "White Chicks," "The Trip to Bountiful," and "Beaches," where he played the role of John Pierce, the love interest to Bette Midler's C.C. Bloom who had a flirtatious relationship with C.C.'s bestie Hillary (Barbara Hershey).
He also graced the small screen via "NCIS: Los Angeles" and "The Sopranos," where he played the role of Vin Makazian, a New Jersey police detective who fed information to Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) in the said HBO series.
Six months prior to Heard's death, Max, his son from a previous marriage with ex-wife Sharon, also died quietly in his sleep. Despite being estranged, Sharon, who was married to the actor from 1988 until 1996, only had praises for Heard at the time of his death, citing the actor's dedication to his craft.
"He'd never compromise. He'd get scripts every day, but he didn't care about money. He didn't care about the Hollywood scene at all," Sharon said.
Heard had been married three times. Prior to Sharon, He was married to Margot Kidder in 1979 and to Lana Pritchard in 2010. All three marriages ended in divorce.
