Goodman struggled with alcoholism for years and even drank while filming the original “Roseanne.” At one point, star Roseanne Barr confronted him about it. “That’s really why I got sent to boarding school aged 14 — to get sober,” she said. “I was a big drinker at the time. I would drink every day. I would drink alone. … I knew it was a problem when I liked it more than I liked doing anything else.” In an interview with GQ UK in 2012, Lana Del Rey opened up about her struggles with alcohol and drugs as a teen. “I was really, really struggling and I started to really worry that maybe I had an alcohol problem. So I decided that I would wait until my birthday, which is June 1,” the actor said.
Ewan McGregor has been sober since 2001.
Bradley Cooper told GQ in 2013 that he got sober because he realized that “if I continued it, I was really going to sabotage my whole life.” But Mr. Brewster continued to be hobbled by his alcoholism and sought treatment at Father Martin’s Ashley in Havre de Grace, now Ashley Addiction Treatment, and the Hazelden Betty Ford Clinic in Minneapolis. Few wrote so fiercely, so sensually about loneliness, rebellion, desire, and persecution. The cause of his death was hemorrhages as a result of alcoholism. These celebrities illustrate that alcohol is often used to self-medicate — to alleviate life’s stressors. Their honesty about their struggles are both heartbreaking and endearing.
Josh Brolin celebrated eight years of sobriety in 2021.
- Cameron Boyce did a little bit of everything during his short life.
- In 2015, he described how alcohol affected virtually everything in his life, “I wouldn’t have been able to have access to myself or other people, or even been able to take in other people, if I hadn’t changed my life.
- After struggling with substance abuse issues for years and nearly losing her life to a heroin overdose in 2018, Demi Lovato finally got sober.
- While we may be more accustomed to celebrities dying to heroin and other drugs, many have died due to an addiction to alcohol.
- In her interviews, Lynch shares that she has been struggling with alcoholism, depression, and cold medicine addiction but has maintained her sobriety since 1991.
- Barbara is inactive in the entertainment industry and moves to Chicago starting a prostitution ring with a fellow ex-actress.
He reportedly checked into rehab again in 2018 as a preventative measure when he began to feel urges, according to The Sun. He also admitted that it “took me a long time to fundamentally, deeply, without a hint of doubt, admit to myself that I am an alcoholic.” “There was definitely a time when I was coming out of ‘Potter’ and I was into the real world, suddenly I was celebrities who died from alcoholism in a world where I’m not going to have that consistency anymore,” he said. “I was pretty inconsolable on the last day of ‘Potter.’ I was really worried. I was living alone, and I think I was really freaked out … I drank a lot, as has been recorded.” Robert Downey Jr. was arrested multiple times on drug-related charges over the span of a few years in the late ’90s.
- One musician that could’ve likely out-drunk every one of her contemporaries in Hollywood was jazz singer Billie Holiday.
- Daniel Radcliffe, best known for his role as Harry Potter, is yet another one of the many celebrities who are recovering alcoholics.
- “I’m 20 years clean and sober today,” the comedian said on Instagram.
Famous Alcoholics
- River Phoenix grew up in the infamous Children of God cult, and his parents encouraged him and his four siblings—including famous actors Joaquin and Summer Phoenix—to get into film.
- Betty Ford, the wife of former President Gerald Ford, suffered from alcoholism and addiction to painkillers.
- Though the actress had been able to hold it together for a good deal of her career, the final years of her life saw her on a downward spiral.
- However, despite her struggles, Lynch has had a successful career in film, television, and theatre, winning numerous awards for her performances.
- The ‘Sullivan’s Travels’ (1941) actress died in 1973 at the age of 50.
- Check out this gallery to see which stars died as a result of alcohol abuse.
The stories of famous alcoholics we’ve outlined in this article demonstrate the impact that addiction can have on individuals, regardless of their fame, success, or social status. Unfortunately, history has seen many brilliant minds lost to this disease so it’s up to the famous alcoholics who got sober to serve as an inspiration to others to seek help and prioritize their mental health. In 2012, singer Lana Del Ray admitted that she had started drinking at the age of 14 and that it was the reason why she was sent to boarding school. Eventually, Del Ray checked into rehab at the age of 18 and has been sober ever since.
- Since there was no documentation about her wishes to distribute her estate, it all went to her parents, Mitch and Janis Winehouse, according to USA Today.
- “Thank goodness I was at a place in my life where I was at ease with all of that, so I could really let myself go,” he said.
- He has been open about his addiction and the role it played in his personal life, including his divorce and strained relationships with his family.
- “I quit drinking like six years ago, so I don’t have the liquid courage. I just have dry courage.”
Jennifer Hudson told Chelsea Handler she has “never” had a single drink in her life while appearing on “Chelsea Lately” in 2013, per HuffPost. “[I took] Vicodin, Valium and Ambien, and toward the end, which caused my overdose, methadone,” he admitted. If I hadn’t finally taken the big step of asking for help 30 years ago, I’d be dead,” he wrote on Instagram in 2020 to commemorate three decades of sobriety. Weeks after celebrating 16 years of sobriety in September 2020, Dax Shepard revealed he relapsed when he began sneaking Vicodin to manage the pain he sustained from multiple motorcycle riding injuries. “Harry Potter” actor Daniel Radcliffe drank heavily as a teen to cope with his global stardom.
celebrities whose stars were defaced on Hollywood’s ‘Walk of Fame’
Blair shared that she had been struggling with alcohol addiction for years, sought help, and entered rehab in 2016, where she received treatment and began her journey to sobriety. Despite the difficulties arising from her deteriorating illness, Blair has been sober since the day she checked into rehab. Another victim on our list of Hollywood alcoholics is Kristin Davis, the American actress best known for her role as Charlotte York in the television series Sex and the City. Davis has shared that her addiction began in her early 20s and continued for many years, leading to difficulties in her career and personal life. Writers are known for their sometimes dramatic deaths, often linked to drug overdoses or psychotic breaks.
Love Letters
The actor stopped drinking and went into rehab after the birth of his first son. “I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it,” she wrote. In a 2022 interview with the New York Times, the actor estimated that he spent $9 million trying to get sober. During an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2017, Farrell celebrated his recovery.
Jessica Simpson became sober so she could be present for her children.
