The Conners star Michael Fishman has spoken out about the tragic death of his adopted son Larry Fishman who died following a drug overdose in June.
The actor, who plays D.J. Conner, sat down with talk show host, Tamron Hall, to chat about Larry and the circumstances surrounding his adoption and the young man’s death.
Fishman explained that he has two biological children, a son and a daughter, from his marriage to Jennifer Briner. However, he also has an adopted daughter called Camille, who was the older sister of Larry.
After Michael and Jennifer’s marriage broke down in 2017, Camille had become close to the Roseanne actor and his children, which led to them welcoming her into their family unit. Michael recounted how Camille had said to him, “I’ve never had a dad. Will you be my dad?”
And it was through Camille that the family first came into contact with her younger brother Larry, who was in foster care at the time.
He was about to leave foster care due to his age and was in a process known as “age-out,” which means he was expected to make his own way in the world. It was at this point that Michael began the adoption process.
Michael Fishman’s son Larry experimented with drugs
When asked how long Larry had been “struggling” with drug abuse, Michael stressed that his son hadn’t been struggling and that it wasn’t really an issue. The 39-year-old actor explained that Larry had been living in a transition house after foster care and had tried some drugs, which led to an overdose.
The drugs Larry tried were of bad quality and led to multiple serious reactions from many people. It seems that as opposed to having an actual addiction, Larry was just a fairly typical teenager who was unfortunate to come across a particularly dangerous batch of drugs.
However, Fishman lamented that “I came to Larry, maybe later than I wish I could. And I think for parents, you wish you had more time. You don’t always get the time that you want.”
He said he was speaking out now in the hope that it might help others who are going through a similar heartache, adding that “the really important part is that you’re brave enough to admit when you struggle and that you need help or that you aren’t strong.”
Michael Fishman posted photo of Larry last month
This is the first time that Fishman had spoken out publicly about his adopted son’s death, but he did post a picture of Larry to his Instagram feed last month for National Son’s Day. He captioned it: “Always in my heart.”
On Father’s Day in June, he also posted a pic of all four of his children and wrote: ” Every moment spent together is irreplaceable. I love my kids!”
Earlier this month, there was further tragic news when rapper Kirko Bangz announced the death of his baby son in a heartbreaking Instagram post where he addressed his child, telling him he was now free of pain.