The death certificate for 77-year-old John Witherspoon just came out and now the public knows how one of their favorite comedians died.
TMZ obtained the death certificate which listed the immediate cause of death as myocardial infarction — another term for heart attack.
The death certificate also lists coronary artery disease and obesity as underlying causes.
A heart attack (myocardial infarction) occurs when one of the heart’s coronary arteries is blocked suddenly or has extremely slow blood flow.
The risk factors for heart attack are:
– An abnormally high level of blood cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia)
– An abnormally low level of HDL (high-density lipoprotein), commonly called “good cholesterol”
– High blood pressure (hypertension)
– Diabetes
– Family history of coronary artery disease at an early age
– Cigarette smoking
– Obesity
– Physical inactivity (too little regular exercise)
In early middle age, men have a greater risk of heart attack than women. However, a woman’s risk increases once she begins menopause.
The usual cause of sudden blockage in a coronary artery is the formation of a blood clot (thrombus). The blood clot typically forms inside a coronary artery that already has been narrowed by atherosclerosis, a condition in which fatty deposits (plaques) build up along the inside walls of blood vessels.
Witherspoon died October 29th at his home in Sherman Oaks, California, and was pronounced dead at 5:30 p.m.
John, of course, was a legendary comic and actor who had TONS of TV and movie credits to his name. Most notably … John played Willie Jones, father of Ice Cube’s character, Craig, in all of the “Friday” movies.” He was also simply Pops on “The Wayans Bros.”
Since his death, videos have been released of celebrities speaking at his funeral. Here are just a few (by the way, grab some tissue, some will make you cry):