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The former owner of the infamous Studio 54 nightclub in Manhattan, where stars like Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli and Diana Ross once partied, died by assisted suicide in Switzerland on Wednesday.
Mark Fleischman, 82, fell ill with an undiagnosed condition that had severely affected his quality of life in 2016.
“I can’t walk, my speech is f-ked up, and I can’t do anything for myself,” he told The New York Post in a June interview. “My wife helps me get into bed and I can’t dress or put on my shoes. I am taking a gentle way out. It is the easiest way out for me.”
He said he unsuccessfully attempted to kill himself two years ago and decided to fly to Zurich because of the legal limits on assisted suicide in California where he lived.
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Mark Fleischman attends “Inside Studio 54” at PH-D Rooftop Lounge at Dream Downtown on September 21, 2017 in New York City.
(Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
He told the Post he thought his drug-filled lifestyle may have contributed to his condition.
“I liked to be high. So I would do drugs and drink,” he said. “Possibly, this [health condition] is because I drank a lot and did drugs.”
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Raquel Welch, Steve Rubell and Mark Fleischman at Studio 54 circa 1981 in New York City.
(Robin Platzer/Images/Getty Images)
He died from an overdose of barbiturates at the assisted suicide clinic, which helps terminally ill patients.
“The more I think about it, the more I want to do it,” he told the Post. “I am flying direct to Zurich from LA. There will be no last party.”
Fleischman bought and reopened the now defunct club in 1981 after its previous owners were imprisoned on tax evasion charges.
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In a memoir published in 2017 called “Inside Studio 54,” Fleischman wrote, “I was the ringleader for nearly four years and I became intoxicated with the scene. Every night, celebrities and stunning women made their way through the crowd to sip champagne and share lines of cocaine with my golden straw or rolled up one-hundred-dollar bills.”
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
