A Los Angeles coroner has ruled that “JAG” co-star Trevor Goddard died of a drug overdose, but a secret the actor took to his grave has been exposed – he was British and not an Australian ex-con as he had claimed.

At the time of his death in early June, Goddard’s obituaries around the world stated that he had been born in Perth, Australia and moved to the U.S. after he got into several scrapes with the law.

His fictional biography about his Australian past was so convincing that wire stories on the cause of his death still repeat the misinformation that the actor was born in Perth.

But at a memorial service last month, Goddard’s father revealed the truth about the 40-year-old father of two in front about 400 shocked friends.

“Now he’s gone, it is not right for his children to carry the legacy that he had criminal convictions,” his father Eric Goddard – a retired detective chief inspector in London’s Metropolitan police – said.

“We all know how good an actor he was, his charm, personality and good looks made success inevitable,” Eric Goddard said. “When an Australian was required for ‘JAG,’ he became one. He convinced everyone he was Australian – even the Australians. Perth became his second birthplace.”

The autopsy found a fatal combination of cocaine, heroin and prescription drugs in his system.

On the CBS drama “JAG,” Goddard played Lt. Commander Mick Brumby, a military lawyer who joined the show through exchange program from the Royal Australian Navy.