More than five months after her passing, a cause of death has been revealed for 1980s rock music video icon and actress Tawny Kitaen.
Kitaen died on May 7 at the age of 59. Multiple reports citing officials in Orange County, Calif., indicate she died of dilated cardiomyopathy and that the manner of death was ruled as natural. Cedars Sinai said dilated cardiomyopathy is when "the heart chambers enlarge and lose the ability to contract."
People and Fox News report that other factors in Kitaen's death included mild coronary atherosclerosis, mirtazapine, mirtazapine metabolite, alprazolam, acetaminophen, pregabalin and hydrocodone.
Julie E. "Tawny" Kitaen was born in San Diego, California and first rose to fame after being featured on back-to-back album covers for the heavy metal band RATT in 1983.
She later appeared in one of the band's music videos, but became a household name when she appeared dancing and cartwheeling on top of cars in the video for Whitesnake's 1987 hit "Here I Go Again.
She appeared in other Whitesnake videos as well including “Is This Love," “The Deeper the Love" and “Still of the Night.” Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1987 to 1991.
Over the years Kitaen landed a list of acting roles and appearances including an episode of Seinfeld called "The One With The Nose Job" and roles like her character as Tom Hank's girlfriend in the 1984 comedy "Bachelor Party."
She also made her way into multiple reality shows as that genre was exploding onto the entertainment world in shows like "The Surreal Life," and VH1's "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" in 2008, further cementing her name and face into U.S. pop culture archives.