Corey Haim is the latest child star to die before his time, washed up, chewed up and spit out by Hollywood with few people able to remember the last time they saw him on screen.

Only 38 years old when he died Wednesday, the Toronto-born Haim had spent years fighting drug addiction and hoping to rebuild the career that once made him a household name and teen idol.

But it was a battle he inevitably seemed to be on the losing side of. Haim was reported to have been to rehab 15 times in his life and he once told Larry King he would be "a chronic relapser for the rest of my life."

Police said he was taking over-the-counter and prescription drugs at the time of his death.

Twenty years ago, Haim was a heartthrob teen actor who had worked alongside many rising Hollywood stars, like Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland, as well as Charlie Sheen and Winona Rider.

When he died, he had not been a recognizable star for years. He had starred in a short-lived reality show with Corey Feldman called "The Two Coreys" -- a self-deprecating show on A&E about their lives as has-been stars.

The last major movie he worked on was "Crank: High Voltage" – a Jason Statham action movie that saw him playing a character with a long blond mullet haircut. In the movie trailer, there is a short clip of his character being thrown through the windshield of a car.

Three weeks before his death, Haim was caught on camera by TMZ.com while out partying with Feldman -- another former and forgotten child performer. He told the celebrity gossip site he was "doing well."

Feldman said Haim's death marked the "tragic loss of a wonderful, beautiful, tormented soul, who will always be my brother, family and best friend."

Haim's untimely passing on Wednesday seemed to prove a Tinseltown axiom -- that few child stars ever make it back to the limelight after they get too old to be cute.

And some of them end up dead long they should.

Paul Petersen, a former child star himself, says few child actors make plans for the day that they will no longer be on top.

"There's no safety net in the entertainment business for people like Corey, or people like me," Petersen told CTV's Canada AM from Los Angeles on Thursday morning.

"When it's over…it's over and then you have a whole bunch of people who surround you, making money off your decline."

Petersen knows what he is talking about.

Fifty years ago, he starred as one of the children on The Donna Reed Show -- a sitcom that aired on ABC from 1958 to 1966.

Today he leads a non-profit organization that helps support former child stars and acts as an advocate for today's child performers.

Years of experience have taught Petersen that the child stars that achieve long-term success, whether in the entertainment industry or in other walks of life, are those that take a break before it is too late.

"What separates them is that people like Jodie Foster, Brooke Shields, Fred Savage, they take a break from the business once they graduate high school -- no matter what their fame -- and they go off to college," he said.

Those who decide to stick around the industry they grew up in, often find themselves without work and without good influences in their lives.

"If you get involved with drugs and your career has come to an end, there are plenty of people to enable you, and that's the dangerous underbelly of the entertainment business," said Petersen.

Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction-medicine specialist who hosts a TV reality show, told The Associated Press that Hollywood performers of all ages often have problems with drugs.

"There's a higher incidence of addiction among celebrities," he said. "It's not the Hollywood-ness. It's the fact that addicts show up in Hollywood and addicts are likely to die."

Pinsky added: "Young Hollywood only reflects what's going on in the culture at large."

Following is a list of notable child-star deaths:

Corey Haim

The 38-year-old Haim collapsed at an apartment complex in Burbank, Calif., before he was rushed to hospital. He died Mar. 10, 2010.

Haim, a former teen idol, was best known for his work in the 1980s, including roles in "The Lost Boys" and the title role in "Lucas."

Andrew Koenig

A former member of the cast of Growing Pains in the role of "Boner," the 41-year-old was found dead in Vancouver's Stanley Park on Feb. 25, 2010. He was last seen alive on Feb. 14.

His father, Walter Koenig -- who is best known for playing the role of Chekov on the original Star Trek -- said his son had long suffered from depression and had taken his own life.

Brittany Murphy

Murphy was in her early teens when she began landing TV and movie roles. In 1995, she nabbed a breakthrough role in the movie "Clueless" and was on her way to bigger parts.

At age 32, Murphy died Dec. 20, 2009, after collapsing at her home. She was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.

In February, a coroner confirmed that Murphy died of pneumonia, though prescription drugs and anemia played a role in her death.

Michael Jackson

The King of Pop was known to audiences from the time that he was a child, when he performed with his brothers in the Jackson 5. While his fame long eclipsed his lesser-known brothers, Jackson's image became tarnished in the 1990s after allegations of child molestation and questions about his unusual lifestyle.

Jackson died of a drug overdose on June 25, 2009.  He was 50 years old.

Brad Renfro

Renfro appeared on the pop culture radar after starring in the 1994 movie adaptation of John Grisham's "The Client." He later played Huckleberry Finn in a Disney version of the classic Mark Twain story and starred alongside Ian McKellen in the Bryan Singer-directed "Apt Pupil."

After many years struggling with drugs and alcohol, Renfro was found dead in his home on Jan. 15, 2008. He was only 25 years old.

River Phoenix

Phoenix died of a drug overdose outside a Hollywood nightclub when he was only 23 years old on Oct. 31, 1993.

A rising star, Phoenix had starred in the well-known 1986 adaptation of Stephen King's "Stand By Me," and had even played the younger version of Harrison Ford's title character in "Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade."

His brother is the actor Joaquin Phoenix.

With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press