Harris Wittels Dead At 30: Producer Likely Had Drug Overdose

Producer Harris Wittels died in his home on Thursday afternoon.

TMZ reports that the Parks and Recreation executive producer was pronounced dead around 1 p.m.

The body of the 30-year-old comedian was found lying on his couch. Although there were no signs of trauma found on Harris’ body, the report confirms that drug paraphernalia was found in the house.

In the past, Wittels had spoken openly about his ongoing struggle with drug addiction — including his two rehab stays.

Harris Wittels worked as one of the executive producers for the popular NBC television series Parks and Recreation, starring Amy Poehler and Chris Pratt.

Wittels also wrote and produced for other television comedy series over the years, including The Sarah Silverman Program and Eastbound and Down.

Recently, Harris Wittels performed stand-up comedy at The Meltdown, a Los Angeles comedy theater, on Wednesday night.

RIP Harris Wittels. I was lucky enough to see him last night at @meltdown_show. Brilliant writer/comedian. So sad. pic.twitter.com/YlbluFU7os

— Morgan Miller (@MrMorganMiller) February 20, 2015

During his set, the comedian reportedly told the audience that he “was in a good place” and “talked about being clean and sober.” In a 2011 interview with AV Club, Harris Wittels had a chance to open up about his full-time work schedule and how much time he committed to his work — especially on Parks and Recreation — throughout the average day.

“[Parks and Recreation] is, like, my full-time job. I’m there from 9 to 9. Usually I’ll get home and decide to avoid all work altogether and go out, or I’ll just stay in and not want to f–king think about writing. It’s tough, doing comedy all day. You don’t feel compelled to work on a screenplay or a book. I’ve kind of just accepted at this point, I’ll just be a loser with no life and I’ll just work, and then I can relax and it’ll pay off later.”

Wittels also opened up about one of his passions of which many people were not aware — his music and band, Don’t Stop Or We’ll Die — and the comforting relief that came along with it.

“If I could quit comedy and just tour with them, I would do that in a second. It’s such a relief to be onstage and just play drums and not have to worry about making people laugh. Essentially, all of us have these other things that we do, and that’s just the fun thing we get to do on weekends. We’re trying to meet once a week now, but it’s falling apart rapidly. Hopefully we’ll record something soon.”

Quita a few people have responded to the tragic news of Harris Wittels’ death on Twitter — including celebrities that knew him either personally or professionally.

Don’t know what to say. Harris Wittels was a fantastic writer I had the pleasure to work with at Parks and Rec. So so sad. RIP Harris.

— billy eichner (@billyeichner) February 20, 2015

Harris Wittels wrote my first episode of Eastbound and Down and was a hilarious and fun guy to hang out with. I’m very sad today

— Ike Barinholtz (@ikebarinholtz) February 20, 2015

Very sad to learn about the death of Harris Wittels. He was extremely talented and, more importantly, a really nice person.

— Lauren Lapkus (@laurenlapkus) February 20, 2015

Harris Wittels was also known for the popular Humblebrag feed on Twitter.

[Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]