Ben Vereen Jr Death – Few Things You Need To Know

Ben Vereen Jr Cause Of Death

Popular New York film and theater Ben Vereen has passed away.

The news of his death was made know through his son who revealed the sudden passage of the actor.

Actor Benjamin Vereen Junior who was popularly known as Benji, was a dancer and choreographer in the late 90s until his he suddenly went missing since July 27.

His father, who’s best known for his portrayal of “The Leading Player” in the original Broadway cast of Pippin, released a statement saying, “I am sorry to announce my son Benjamin A Vereen Jr., affectionately known as “Benji” passed away. Benji was a dancer and a choreographer with an extraordinary artistic talent and we will hold him in our hearts forever. Thank you to the public for loving my son. We would appreciate allowing our family to mourn this privately.”

Vereen is no stranger to tragedy.

His daughter died when she was 16, and Vereen himself was critically injured when he was hit by a car.

The late actor Benji died at the age of 55 years.

Ben Vereen Tells Heartbreaking Family Tragedy That Caused His Heavy Drug Addiction in 2015

The superb Broadway dancer, revealed that he developed an extremely heavy cocaine addiction that was kicked into overdrive after the sudden death of his 16 year old daughter, Naja. In prior interviews with People Magazine and Ability Magazine, the details and hardships that followed Vereen were revealed.

Naja was killed in a car accident on the New Jersey Turnpike when a truck overturned on her car one night in 1987. Ben was at the height of his career and that was one heartache that he could not soothe on his own, so he started to heavily self medicate and he ultimately fell deep into his ‘medication.’

Five years later, he too, almost died of the same fate as his daughter. After Vereen’s car hit a tree earlier that night, he was walking along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and was hit by a car that was being driven by the well-known Grammy-winning producer/composer David Foster (who was returning home from a Hollywood studio after working on a Michael Bolton album that night and has since worked with everyone from Whitney Houston to Mary J. Blige).

Vereen was probably still dazed from his earlier car accident that night and stumbled onto the road on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Foster swerved to avoid him, but Vereen darted out in the same direction of Foster’s car, causing Foster to hit him. That hit hurled Vereen 40 feet in the air, he rolled for another 50, and then he landed on the road. Vereen then had a stroke, suffered a brain injury as a result, and that’s where he was forced to start pulling himself out of his addiction from the pain of losing Naja.

Vereen explained how his daughter passed away on December 21, 1987, but he still had to put on a front for the world as he continue to do public appearances and performances. One of those appearances being just about a week and a half after Naja’s tragic death:

“On New Years Eve I was wishing the world a Happy New Year’s (on a New Year’s Day TV show) and I was dying inside.

If it were up to me—I know the impact of the pain I suffered—I would have said bye, but something greater than me said no.”

Vereen had a thracheostomy inserted into his wind pipe to help him breathe and over that next year he had to learn to walk and feed himself again, but he pulled through…drug-free.

As for producer/composer David Foster, he had a tough time recovering after Vereen’s accident and he ultimately had to see a psychologist to help with the flashbacks of the accident. He said “My recovery was totally tied into Ben’s. Every little tidbit of news we got [about Ben’s recovery] was like a feast.” Two months after Ben’s accident, he called Foster and said “David? “Good hit!” LOL. After visiting Vereen in the hospital several times, David Foster ended up writing a song for Ben titled, “Live Each Day.”