But soon his personal life was making more headlines than his acting. Veronica Lake was an actress best known for her femme fatale film roles. A successful British actor in films and television, Ian Hendry appeared in Get Carter and The Avengers. The band was on the cusp of international stardom when he was found dead in his car on a cold day in London, in 1980. … And they brought me back.” In a July 2023 interview with Bloomberg Law, the actor acknowledged he had a “relapse” at the airport but was back in recovery.

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• Janis Joplin’s solo career was blooming when she unexpectedly died from a heroin overdose on October 4, 1970.
• Born in London, Trevor Goddard spent much of his early days pursuing a career in music.
• On “Glee,” Monteith played glee club member (and former athlete) Finn Hudson, a role he played for the show’s first four hit seasons.
• Some of his biggest roles were still to come, though, including his part as Plutarch Heavensbee in the “Hunger Games” films.
• A coroner’s report two months after his passing revealed the cause of Cloud’s death to be an unintentional overdose of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and benzodiazepines.
• Still, later roles on “Community” and “Lovecraft Country” proved his versatility.

A steady diet of alcohol had ravaged his heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. His alcoholism led to a spectacular failure in judgment that nearly sent him to prison. Flynn would take weekend trips on his private yacht, hosting parties fueled by cocaine, alcohol, and sexual misadventures. Scott Fitzgerald dropped dead of another massive heart attack brought on by chronic alcoholism. Between 1933 and 1937, Scott was hospitalized for alcoholism on eight separate occasions.

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The Glee star had a tragic death from a mixture of heroin and alcohol at the young age of 31. Although she went to rehab a few times, Amy Winehouse later died from alcohol poisoning at the age of 27. The superstar had battled with drugs throughout her entire career, which received widespread media coverage.

She would reportedly consume a half bottle of brandy every day for ten years leading up to the day in 1980 when she succumbed to liver failure the age 53. Doctors listed liver, kidney, and heart ailments all as causes, complicated by pneumonia and his continued drinking. American actress and comedian Jane Lynch is among the many celebrities who are sober and have stayed sober despite the fact that they have been struggling with multiple addictions. Jack Kerouac was a writer and poet, famous as a key voice of the Beat Generation in the 1950s.

According to the Coroner’s Report, the cause of death was “liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxication.” But Capote never published another significant work in his lifetime. Ignoring the pleas of his friends and family, Burton’s health issues continued to throttle him until his premature death at the age of 58 from a brain hemorrhage. According to biographer Robert Sellers, “At the height of his boozing in the mid-70s, he was knocking back three to four bottles of hard liquor a day.” Even when drinking, Burton had an impressive career.

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This wasn’t a short addiction, however, with claims that MJ relied on painkillers throughout most of his life. Pop legend Michael Jackson also suffered with personal issues throughout his lifetime in the public eye. “If I continued it, I was really going to sabotage my whole life.” Is the scene Fitzgerald paints a celebration of the richness of life or a dark reflection of his own struggles? There is debate among some as to whether these addictions added to their greatness or were simply a numbing agent for other problems in their lives. Many writers of the 20th century – worryingly, many of them American – struggled with alcohol addiction.

However, a damaged liver prevented his blood from clotting. On the morning of October 20, 1969, in St. Petersburg, Florida, Jack Kerouac put down the breakfast of champions, stumbled into the bathroom, and began vomiting blood an esophageal hemorrhage. Afterward, the constant drinking made her voice rougher and more vulnerable. She was arrested for drug possession in 1947 and ended up serving ten months in federal prison. Already a heavy drinker, Billie Holiday was introduced to heroin by her first husband, trombonist Jimmy Monroe.

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Robert found himself behind bars on numerous occasions on drug-related What Alcohol Does charges. Having moved on from those dark times, Jolie is grateful that she’s still standing, unlike many that have passed from similar behavior before her. Amidst the drug-taking, the Hollywood icon also suffered from depression and even planned suicide twice.

It was during filming that Matthew found himself at the height of his addiction. During this time, she focused on new business endeavors and opened a chain of high-end clubs in Greece. After many run-ins with the law and three trips to rehab, Lindsay decided to step away from acting and found her healing space in Europe.

The actor, who had credits in films “The Birdcage” and “Skippy,” was 28 years old when she passed away on February 7, 2002. The writer claims that Aston Moore began using heroin as a teen and had been sober for a period of time until her final years. Tributes poured in from Hollywood, with Renfro’s first co-star Susan Sarandon calling him the “most incredibly gifted young actor.”

By the end of his career, he couldn’t even swing a bat without collapsing in pain. In high school, he had suffered chronic damage to the bones and cartilage in his legs. He was a humble man who was kind and friendly to all his teammates, even the rawest rookie.” Sadly, Mickey Mantle played with injuries throughout his career that would sideline a modern player, including a torn ACL. Hall of Fame Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford describes him as “a superstar who never acted like one. As he later wrote, “After one drink, I was off and running… I’d often keep on drinking until I couldn’t drink anymore.” Devastated by the loss, Mickey Mantle started to drink hard to escape the memories.

As evidence of this reality, here are eight legendary celebrities who tragically died from alcohol use disorder or alcohol-related causes. Since alcoholism is also a self-diagnosed and self-treated disease, you have to be willing to do the work necessary to recover. And alcohol use disorder is a progressive disease that only gets worse over time if left untreated.

In 2021, he was found dead in his home at the age of 38 with no clear cause of death. As his drinking got worse and worse, liver damage forced him to stop touring. A founding member of the Grateful Dead, keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan was a blues purist whose role in the band diminished over time. John Cassavetes began his career as an actor in such films as Rosemary’s Baby. The “Southern Charm” star looked visibly uncomfortable while being questioned about his family tragedy.

In the helpstay reviews history of Hollywood, this has happened all too often, affecting everyone from lesser-known character actors to the biggest movie stars. And they’re all the more shocking because the private struggles of many actors remain hidden from the world until the day they lose their lives. For some, though, it’s that excess that attracts aspiring talent, drawn to the promise of the glitz and glamour, and the fame and fortune that a successful acting career can bring. Unfortunately, none of those accomplishments ever materialized because alcoholism knocked each of these legendary celebrities down for the count. In 1952, Williams was dismissed due to his unreliability and his alcohol abuse. A few months after receiving a new liver, Mickey Mantle, the golden boy of Major League Baseball, died on August 13, 1995, of this alcohol-related disease.

The Hellboy actress, who is also one of the few celebrities diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, has shared the details about her alcoholism in her memoir, Mean Baby. A home video of a drunken Hasselhoff went viral in spouses of alcoholics support groups 2007, receiving airtime on countless news programs and across the internet. During a break, while filming ‘Gladiator,’ English actor Oliver Reed died of a heart attack (2000).

• She was once arrested in 1991 for robbing a video store in Las Vegas and again in 1992 after she forged a prescription for drugs.
• Evan Ellingson started in show business appearing in episodes of “General Hospital” and “That Was Then.” Around that time as a child actor, he also became known for playing the 10-year-old version of Christopher Titus in his eponymously titled sitcom “Titus.”
• In his final on-screen performance, the Australian actor brought the DC Comics supervillain the Joker to life in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” which won Ledger a posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor.
• Kelly checked into a rehab facility — Pax Rehab House in Altadena, California — after her DUI arrest in 2013, but she died in August that year.
• In the 2018 movie, A Star is Born, the leading actor played the role of Jasckson, a musician who was also struggling with addiction.
• Days later, Billie Holiday died at 44 of chronic alcoholism.

Ellingson’s death came just months after his 35th birthday when he was living in a sober-living facility. This would turn out to be Ellingson’s final role, as he stepped away from acting when he reached adulthood. Four men in New York were arrested and charged in connection to Williams’ death. Still, later roles on “Community” and “Lovecraft Country” proved his versatility. “We hope the world remembers him for his humor, laughter and love for everyone.” Fans of Cloud will have at least two more chances to celebrate his life and talent, though, as he reportedly completed filming an untitled Universal Monsters movie and the upcoming Pedro Pascal film “Freaky Tales.” In “Euphoria,” Cloud received praise for his gripping performance as the drug dealer Fezco.

His works remain iconic, but his personal struggles serve as a poignant warning. Fitzgerald’s tragic demise exemplifies how addiction can claim even the brightest talents. Beiderbecke’s musical genius was overshadowed by his battle with addiction. Mussorgsky’s tragic end underscores the dangers of both prolonged alcohol use and withdrawal. His life serves as a reminder of how personal demons can overshadow professional achievements. Yet, only 10% of the estimated 15 million individuals struggling with alcohol use disorder receive treatment, per Talbott Recovery.

In 1999, during the filming of Gladiator, Reed challenged a group of sailors to a drinking contest. And The Three Musketeers, Oliver Reed was notorious for both his womanizing and his drinking and was known for his binge drinking. He announced that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2011, and in 2012, he ultimately died of acute myeloid leukemia. In 1959, under the treatment of a doctor in Canada, Flynn succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 50.

Scott’s friends say that he was reckless with drugs and alcohol for years before his death. Unfortunately many famous people’s lives have been cut short because of alcoholism, including actors, musicians and athletes. The cause alcohol and dopamine link of his death was a gastrointestinal hemorrhage, most likely the result of years of alcohol abuse. List of famous people who died of alcoholism, listed bromide detox alphabetically with photos when available.

Bartusiak’s body was reportedly discovered by her boyfriend, and her family believed she died of seizures and choking, per CNN. On July 19, 2014, Bartusiak, just 21 years old, died in her Texas home. On April 2, 2020, Williams passed away from an accidental overdose from fentanyl, a powerful opioid pain reliever, People reported. In addition to commercials for Fotomat and Wrigley, she had multiple roles for television and film before finding big success in “Diff’rent Strokes” in 1978. According to Entertainment Weekly, his final days were fueled by a drug and booze binge.