U.S. figure skating champion Christopher Bowman was discovered in a cheap hotel Thursday dead from a likely drug overdose. Bowman had battled addiction to drugs and alcohol for years.

U.S figure skating champion Christopher Bowman pleased fans and fellow skaters with his flair on the ice. But he was also known for his off-the-ice struggles with drugs and alcohol and other personal problems. Now the 40-year-old former skating champ known as “Bowman the Showman” has been found dead at a budget hotel in the San Fernando Valley, and authorities say a drug overdose could be to blame.

Chris Bowman was an extremely talented figure skater who competed in two Winter Olympics.

He also won a silver medal at the 1989 world championships, and a bronze the next year. He skated in the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics, finishing seventh in 1988 and fourth in 1992.

“If I had to pick the three most talented skaters of all time, I would pick Christopher as one,” Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic champion, told the Chicago Tribune. “He had natural charisma, natural athleticism, he could turn on a crowd in a matter of seconds and he always seemed so relaxed about it.”

He was also a child actor.  Do they ever have a happy ending or drama free life?  As an actor he starred on Little House on the Prarie in the episodes ‘The Wedding’ and ‘The Sound of Children’ in the last 1970′s.  He also had an appearance on Archie Bunker’s Place.

He even performed stunts in the movie The Lost Boys.

Bowman was 40-years-old.