Night Court star Harry Anderson died of a stroke in the middle of the night as his wife slept next to him, his death certificate has revealed.
Night Court star Harry Anderson died of a stroke in the middle of the night as his wife slept next to him, his death certificate has revealed.
Harry Anderson died of a stroke in the middle of the night caused by the flu and a heart disease often found to be genetic.
The Night Court star was found dead in his bed on Monday by wife Elizabeth Morgan, who called 911 at 6.41am when she found him upon waking up.
His primary cause of death was listed as a cardioembolic cerebrovascular accident on his death certificate, obtained by TMZ.
A cardioembolic cerebrovascular accident is where the heart pumps the incorrect material into brain circulation, causing a brain blood vessel to become blocked and damaging brain tissue.
Morgan called authorities after her 65-year-old husband was found lying unresponsive with his eyes "partially open" in their home at Asheville, North Carolina.
She told the dispatcher her husband had suffered multiple strokes earlier in the year.
In her first remark to the operator, she said: 'Yes, um, I am not sure who I need. Um, I woke up this morning and, um, my, uh, I think my husband has passed away in the night.
"I mean I - I'm in disbelief. I look at him and I feel like I see him breathing. He's cold.
"His hand - he's cold. He's not ice cold but he is definitely cold. His eyes are partially open, uh, but he's not lookin' at anything, he's not responding."
The cast of TV show Night Court.
Later, she said his fingers were "purplish". She also told the operator that he'd suffered strokes in January after a bout of the flu.
The operator told her to check if he was breathing.
"I don't think he's breathing," Morgan replied, adding that his skin was "different".
"He's cold and his skin is a different - kind of different colour," she said.
Asked if she could move him to open up his airway, she said: "No, in fact he's very, he feels pretty stiff."
Morgan said he had been suffering health problems recently but did not expand on what those were.
Heartbreakingly, she told the operator it was too late for CPR, saying: "I don't think he's here anymore."
She said the pair went to bed together at 9pm and that he seemed in good health at the time.
At some stage during the night, she vaguely remembered him getting up but could not recall any other details.
In the morning, she said she woke up to find him lying on his side with his head on the pillow.
In a heartbreaking exchange at the end of the call, the operator told Morgan she would hang up and allow her to call their loved ones since she did not want to begin CPR.
"I'm so sorry ma'am. Is there anything else that we can do for you? Or do you wanna go ahead, hang up the phone and call your family?" she said.
Morgan replied: "Yes, I thank you very much. I'm going to call them now."
Paramedics arrived not long afterwards.
After breaking out on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s Anderson starred on almost 200 episodes of Night Court as the goofy but big-hearted Judge Harry Stone.
