Dana Carvey’s son Dex Carvey’s official cause of death has been revealed.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled on Tuesday, January 23, that Dex died on November 15, 2023, from “drug toxicity” due to a combinaton of fentanyl, ketamine and cocaine, according to records obtained by USA Today. The manner of death was ruled an accident.
The final coroner’s report is pending.
Dex’s official cause of death comes two months after Dana, 68, announced that Dex passed away at the age of 32 in a joint statement with wife Paula Zwagerman.
“Last night we suffered a terrible tragedy. Our beloved son, Dex, died of an accidental overdose. He was 32 years old,” the couple wrote via Instagram in November 2023. “Dex packed a lot into those 32 years. He was extremely talented at so many things — music, art, filmmaking, comedy — and pursued them passionately.”
They continued, “It’s not an exaggeration to say that Dex loved life. And when you were with him, you loved life too. He made everything fun. … Dex was a beautiful person. His handmade birthday cards are a treasure. We will miss him forever. To anyone struggling with addiction or who loves someone struggling with addiction, you are in our hearts and prayers.”
“We’ll miss him every day,” the statement concluded. “To anyone struggling with addiction or who loves someone with addiction, you are in our hearts and prayers.”
Prior to his death, Dex was following in his father’s comedic footsteps. He snagged roles in the 2013 miniseries The Funster alongside his father and 2015’s Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser. In 2016, he opened for Dana on his Netflix special Straight White Male. He was also a founder of Third Wheel Comedy, a live performance venue in Hollywood, and was gearing up for an upcoming project with B-Sides Comic.
After a brief hiatus, Dana returned to his “Fly on the Wall” podcast, which he cohosts with David Spade, earlier this month. During the January 17 episode, the comedian opened up about how he and his family have been dealing with their grief.
“It’s me and my wife and our son’s private journey,” Dana, who also shares son Thomas, 30, with Zwagerman, said. “We’re all together, and we do a lot of fun things. We hike, we go to church. You just want to make sure that you keep moving.”
Dana noted that he is suffering from the same kind of “pain” that “millions of other people on this planet” also endure, adding, “And you don’t know how long you’re going to be on it or when it will stop or when it will get better. But in the meantime, all of this kind of stuff is very healthy.”
Dana and Zwagerman tied the knot in 1983 before welcoming Dex 11 years later. Son Thomas arrived in 1994. The former Saturday Night Live star had a major Hollywood career before ultimately deciding to step out of the spotlight to focus on raising his two children.
“I have friends who get stressed about fading or not being as hot. I never quite engaged that. I have a lot of drive to try to be the best I can be, have people be blown away by what I do and repeating it. But the other side of me is fine wherever I am,” Dana told People in September 2019. “My wife and I made two humans, so I thought I probably should make some adjustments based on the two humans being there,”
