Lisa Robin Kelly, the actress who played Laurie Forman on the Fox sitcom “That ’70s Show” and had experienced legal and substance-abuse troubles in recent years, died Wednesday, her agent told TheWrap on Thursday. She was 43.
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Kelly died while attending a rehab facility while attempting to battle her demons, the agent said.
“Unfortunately Lisa Robin Kelly passed away last evening. Lisa had voluntarily checked herself into a treatment facility early this week where she was battling the addiction problems that have plagued her these past few years,” the agent told TheWrap on Thursday. “I spoke to her on Monday and she was hopeful and confident, looking forward to putting this part of her life behind her. Last night she lost the battle.”
Also read: ‘That ’70s Show’ Actress Lisa Robin Kelly Admits Drinking Problem, Denies Assault
A cause of death has not yet been released.
Since exiting the series in 2003 — she was replaced by Christina Moore for the show’s sixth season — Kelly had grabbed more headlines for her legal troubles than her acting career. The actress was arrested in November 2012 for allegedly assaulting her husband in North Carolina, which followed a charge of corporal injury on a spouse in March of that year. (Those charges were dropped.)
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While Kelly denied the March assault, she did admit to struggling with alcohol abuse, telling “Good Morning America” interviewer Abbie Boudreau that she developed a drinking problem after suffering a miscarriage.
“I had lost a baby, and as a result of that, I lost everything, and I was abusing alcohol, which I no longer do,” the actress, who claimed to be sober for three months at the time of the interview, said. “With ‘That ’70s Show,’ I was guilty of the drinking problem and I ran. And I am not running from this. And I have paid my dues. And if I can make it through this, I can make it through anything.”
Most recently, in June, Kelly was arrested for suspicion of DUI after her car apparently stalled on the 5 freeway in Burbank, Calif.