Top 10 Celebrity Recovered Addicts

By Giselle Melanson
Fancast.com

People magazine’s latest cover on former Full House star Jodie Sweetin (From Meth Addict to Mom) got me thinking. When people talk about the stuff that dreams are made of, drug and alcohol addiction probably aren’t the first things that come to mind. And yet, so many Hollywood veterans have battled the bottle, prescription pills, illegal drugs–and sometimes, all three. You can chalk it up to creative demons, but whatever the root cause, the following actors have had to deal with their personal problems very publicly.

10. Todd Bridges. What exactly was Willis talkin’ ‘bout? Apparently, a life of cocaine addiction and two charges of attempted murder. Today, Bridges is a recovered addict who tours schools to speak about the dangers of drug abuse.

9. Tatum O’Neal. The youngest actor to ever win an Oscar and Michael Jackson’s first girlfriend, Tatum O’Neal has battled an ongoing drug problem for most of her life. Recently arrested for buying crack cocaine, O’Neal continues to go to recovery meetings daily.

8. David Hasselhoff. This former Baywatch star and European music deity might have been able to keep his alcohol problem on the relative down-lo, were it not for the age of the Internet. A video of Hasselhoff lying shirtless on the floor and slobbering drunkenly over a Wendy’s hamburger became a viral video sensation in 2007.

7. Carrie Fisher. If your face was on everything from shampoo bottles to lunch boxes, you’d probably be doing drugs too. After she became a pop culture icon and every nerd’s fantasy in Star Wars, Fisher battled an addiction to Percodan, taking up to 30 a day. She is now recovered and working in Hollywood.

6. Jodie Sweetin. While everyone else was wondering what the hell the Olsen twins were wearing, their former Full-House co-star, Jody Sweetin was injecting herself with crystal meth. (How ruuuuude!) Today she is meth-free and a new Mom.

5. Robert Downey Jr. When you become more familiar with an actor from his apologetic courtroom appearances than his paid, on screen appearances, you know they have a problem. Downey Jr. says he has been drug-free since 2001, thanks to the help of family, therapy, twelve-step recovery programs, and meditation.

4. Corey Feldman. Feldman is misunderstood, y’all. In an interview with Askmen.com, the actor revealed, “People do not realize this, but my drug addiction was actually a short span of time. It was only for two years.” So why is Feldman still so associated with drugs? Maybe because of his association with….

3. Corey Haim. One half of the iconic 80s duo, The Two Coreys, Haim struggled with drug addiction much longer than his bro-mantic partner, Corey Feldman. Now he’s clean and ready to work, and just in case Hollywood producers don’t believe that, he took out an ad in Variety magazine this year confirming his “hire” abilities.

2. Drew Barrymore. If you were a recovered addict and alcoholic at age 14, what would you do with the rest of your life? Great things, of course. Barrymore has gone on to be one of the most successful actors in Hollywood, and started her own production company, Flower Films.

1. Richard Pryor. It’s a little hard to keep your drug problem private when it results in setting yourself on fire, but that’s what happened to Richard Pryor back in 1980. The press reported it was an accident while freebasing on cocaine. In reality, he intentionally torched himself in a suicidal, drug-fueled state. Unlike his fellow comedy star John Belushi, Pryor survived his drug problems only to suffer from MS in his later years. He died in 2005.