The Region : ‘Street Drugs’ Tied to Producer’s Death

The executor of the estate of veteran movie producer David Lewis, whose death Friday is being investigated by Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide detectives because of “some unresolved questions” about the cause, said the 83-year-old Lewis’ body contained “street drugs . . . that virtually could not have been self-administered.” James Richard Curtis told the Associated Press that Lewis was nearly comatose when admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Jan. 31. Curtis said the drugs apparently were cocaine and methadone. Lewis, he said, “did not smoke or drink.” Lewis had checked himself out of the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills a day before he was taken to Cedars-Sinai. Sheriff’s spokesmen had no comment on Lewis’ allegations, saying only that an autopsy was scheduled. Lewis produced such films as “Dark Victory” and “Arch of Triumph.”