Thomas Kinkade Death Attributed to Alcohol? Artist's Sordid Past Revealed
The unexpected death of Thomas Kinkade has raised questions as to what caused the 54-year-old man to pass, with some suspecting that alcohol may have played a role.
Thomas Kinkade became famous for creating paintings that appeared as though light was shining through them, eventually trade marking himself as "the painter of light."
The painter passed away last Friday and while the official cause of his death is unknown, family members initially stated that he died of natural causes. An autopsy was ordered Monday to confirm the official cause, but results from the test may remain unknown for weeks.
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In 2006 Kinkade was accused of cheating other gallery owners in order to increase his own wealth. The LA Times also reported other incidents that Kinkade had been accused of while drunk: "They [gallery owners] and others also described incidents in which an allegedly drunken Kinkade heckled illusionists Siegfried and Roy; cursed a former employee's wife who came to his side when he fell off a barstool; fondled a startled woman's breasts at a signing party; and urinated on a Winnie the Pooh figure at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim."
Following the incident, the painter offered an apology and claimed to have reformed his ways. Again in 2010, Kinkade was caught publicly intoxicated and arrested on a DUI charge.
Now following the painters death, a new report has surfaced that Kinkade had been drinking the night before his death.
"Apparently he's been drinking all night and not moving," a dispatcher confirmed, according to FireScan.net.
Kinkade's brother, Patrick Kinkade, attributed his drinking woes in part, to the criticism that the painter had received over his work.
"As much as he said it didn't bother him, in his heart deep down inside it would sadden him that people would criticize so hatefully his work and his vision when people didn't understand him," Patrick told Mercury New.
Kinkade passed with over $9 million in debt. All of the proceeds made off of his paintings will now go to his many creditors.
