Hollywood's addiction problem
The industry tends to let addictions slide and then feign surprise when someone falls.
Photos: Back from the brink
Photos: Back from the brink
CARRIE FISHER
The daughter of actress Debbie Reynolds and crooner Eddie Fisher has built a franchise from sending "Postcards from the Edge." Her first novel dove into her thorny relationship with drugs (not to mention Mom) and was spun into a movie with Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine.
The daughter of actress Debbie Reynolds and crooner Eddie Fisher has built a franchise from sending "Postcards from the Edge." Her first novel dove into her thorny relationship with drugs (not to mention Mom) and was spun into a movie with Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine.
(Al Seib / LAT)
May 16, 2007
OZZY OSBOURNE
There are few drug habits as storied as Ozzy Osbourne's. The highlights, or lowlights, as it were: He was arrested for urinating on the Alamo. He bit off the head of a live dove in a meeting with record executives. He tried to strangle his wife and manager Sharon. For his latest album, "Black Rain," he got clean. "I thought I'd never write again without any stimulation," he told Billboard. "But you know what? Instead of picking up the bottle I just got honest and said, 'I don't want life to go [to pieces].'"
There are few drug habits as storied as Ozzy Osbourne's. The highlights, or lowlights, as it were: He was arrested for urinating on the Alamo. He bit off the head of a live dove in a meeting with record executives. He tried to strangle his wife and manager Sharon. For his latest album, "Black Rain," he got clean. "I thought I'd never write again without any stimulation," he told Billboard. "But you know what? Instead of picking up the bottle I just got honest and said, 'I don't want life to go [to pieces].'"
(Jae C. Hong / AP)
ROBIN WILLIAMS
During his swift rise to fame as the alien in suspenders on "Mork & Mindy," Williams used cocaine, oddly enough, as a way to get quiet time. But he quit drugs and alcohol cold turkey after his good friend John Belushi died a few hours after the two shared a line. Last year, he started drinking again and had to go into rehab for a bit, but all signs are positive that he's made a full recovery.
During his swift rise to fame as the alien in suspenders on "Mork & Mindy," Williams used cocaine, oddly enough, as a way to get quiet time. But he quit drugs and alcohol cold turkey after his good friend John Belushi died a few hours after the two shared a line. Last year, he started drinking again and had to go into rehab for a bit, but all signs are positive that he's made a full recovery.
(Damon Winter / LAT)
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/
DREW BARRYMORE
When most kids are getting braces, "E.T."'s tow-headed star was drinking, smoking pot and snorting cocaine, but at least she got the clichéd child-star drug addiction thing out of the way early. Barrymore, 32, has grown into a super-producer with her production company Flower Films and last year she earned one of the highest salaries per movie.
When most kids are getting braces, "E.T."'s tow-headed star was drinking, smoking pot and snorting cocaine, but at least she got the clichéd child-star drug addiction thing out of the way early. Barrymore, 32, has grown into a super-producer with her production company Flower Films and last year she earned one of the highest salaries per movie.
(Peter Foley)
RICHARD DREYFUSS
Dreyfuss was up with performances in "Jaws" and an Oscar-winning turn in "the Goodbye Girl." And then he was down, crashing his car into a tree and getting arrested for cocaine possession. In the last couple years, this one-time conscientious objector has jumped back into the political arena with speaking gigs at the National Press Club and a civics class at James Madison University.
Dreyfuss was up with performances in "Jaws" and an Oscar-winning turn in "the Goodbye Girl." And then he was down, crashing his car into a tree and getting arrested for cocaine possession. In the last couple years, this one-time conscientious objector has jumped back into the political arena with speaking gigs at the National Press Club and a civics class at James Madison University.
(Chad Buchanan, Getty Images)
Feb 26, 2007
CHARLIE SHEEN
In the heady days of "Wall Street," Martin Sheen's son appeared to have all the potential in the world. Then he got lost in the snow, so to speak, until 1998 when he cleaned up after a near-fatal drug overdose. Now he's back in Hollywood's good graces with his hit show, "Two and a Half Men."
In the heady days of "Wall Street," Martin Sheen's son appeared to have all the potential in the world. Then he got lost in the snow, so to speak, until 1998 when he cleaned up after a near-fatal drug overdose. Now he's back in Hollywood's good graces with his hit show, "Two and a Half Men."
(Robert Voets)
Aug 24, 2005
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.
This critically praised actor couldn't walk a straight line for most of the '90s. Jail time, rehab stints, wandering into a neighbor's house and passing out in a child's bedroom... who could keep up? But now he's into yoga and earning notices in "Zodiac" and the upcoming "Charlie Bartlett."
This critically praised actor couldn't walk a straight line for most of the '90s. Jail time, rehab stints, wandering into a neighbor's house and passing out in a child's bedroom... who could keep up? But now he's into yoga and earning notices in "Zodiac" and the upcoming "Charlie Bartlett."
(Kevork Djansezian / AP)
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/
IAN MACKAYE
You don't drink, you don't smoke, what do you do? You rock out with Ian MacKaye, frontman of legendary hardcore bands Fugazi and Minor Threat. The Washington, D.C. native started the "straight edge" movement in the early '80s, a lifestyle committed to no drugs, no alcohol and no promiscious sex that inspired legions of grim-faced boys to sport black-marker X's on their hands. We're not sure too many of them stuck to it past 17 but it's the point that counts.
You don't drink, you don't smoke, what do you do? You rock out with Ian MacKaye, frontman of legendary hardcore bands Fugazi and Minor Threat. The Washington, D.C. native started the "straight edge" movement in the early '80s, a lifestyle committed to no drugs, no alcohol and no promiscious sex that inspired legions of grim-faced boys to sport black-marker X's on their hands. We're not sure too many of them stuck to it past 17 but it's the point that counts.
(Lori Shepler / LAT)