Report: Actor Neil Hope died five years ago

TORONTO -- Actor Neil Hope, who starred as Derek "Wheels" Wheeler on the popular 1980s TV series "Degrassi Junior High" and had little contact with relatives and friends in his final years, died alone in an Ontario rooming house in 2007, his former fiancee confirmed Friday.

Ex-fiancee Christina Boulard said Hope's family spent years trying to track him down after hearing rumors of his death several years ago, but only learned last month from police in Hamilton, Ontario, that he had died.

Boulard said the former star of Canada's groundbreaking "Degrassi" series died on Nov. 25, 2007, of "natural causes" at the age of 35 but declined to elaborate.

Boulard, who last saw Hope in 2002, said it was not unusual for him to cut ties with friends and family for sometimes a year at a time.

Hope was one of "Degrassi's" earliest stars, appearing as "Griff" on the first installment, "The Kids of Degrassi Street," in 1979.

On "Degrassi Junior High," which ran from 1987 to 1991 on PBS in the United States, he portrayed the troubled character Derek Wheeler, who struggled with alcoholism.

"Degrassi Junior High," which followed the lives of teens, was acclaimed for its realistic portrayal of topics such as drug use, child abuse, teen pregnancy, homophobia, racism and divorce. -- AP