Famous Alcoholics And Addicts
September 20, 2010 at 4:00 pm 14 comments
Image via Wikipedia
I thought it might be fun, with the recent “news” event of Lindsay Lohan’s Tweet about her drug test failure, to make a list of famous people who suffer from alcoholism and addiction issues. Just because someone has substance abuse problems doesn’t mean that society should kick them to the wayside or that they are destined to be bums on a street corner. Some of these names you’ll already know about, and some you might actually be surprised to discover on the list. Some have gotten sober, some have attempted, and some have died not trying. At any rate, it’s interesting to see such a long list of accomplished people.
John Ford
Ulysses S. Grant
Ernest Hemingway
Janice Dickinson
Jack Kerouac
Stephen King
David Hasselhoff
Michael J. Fox
Meredith Baxter
Eric Clapton
Hunter S. Thompson
Anne Lamott
David Crosby
McKenzie Philips
Alexander the Great
Edgar Allen Poe
Larry Hagman
John Daly
Mary Tyler Moore
Dick Van Dyke
Tracy Morgan
Anna Nicole Smith
Melanie Griffith
William Shatner
Eddie Van Halen
Keith Urban
Johnny Cash
Ben Affleck
Buzz Aldrin
Truman Capote
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Dorothy Parker
Carrie Fisher
Kris Kristoferson
Franklin Pierce
Richard Burton
Elizabeth Taylor
Eddie Fisher
John Barrymore
Judy Garland
Spencer Tracy
Ava Gardner
Betty Ford
Robert Young
John Denver
Mel Gibson
William S. Burroughs
Raymond Carver
Robbie Williams
Ozzie Osborne
Brett Butler
Tim Allen
Errol Flynn
Tom Arnold
William Holden
Steve McQueen
O. Henry
Jim Morrison
Hank Williams
Billie Holliday
Veronica Lake
W.C. Fields
James Thurber
Lorenz Hart
Dylan Thomas
Janis Joplin
Jimmy Hendrix
Robin Williams
Melissa Gilbert
Beverly DeAngelo
Linda Carter
Samuel L. Jackson
Kelsey Grammer
Billy Joel
Mickey Mantle
Babe Ruth
Michael Landon
Demi Moore
Joe Namath
Jackie Gleason
Ted Kennedy
Joan Kennedy
Boris Yeltsin
Joseph Stalin
Alexander Gudonov
Ed McMahon
Dave Mustaine
Doc Holiday
Winston Churchill
Frank Sinatra
John Bonham
George Carlin
Anthony Hopkins
Slash
Eugene O’Neill
Ringo Starr
Trent Reznor
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Joe Dimaggio
Lester Young
Herve Villachez
Glenn Beck
Lee Marvin
Colin Farrell
Steve Clark
Courtney Love
Kurt Cobain
Charlie Sheen
Rob Lowe
Chad Lowe
Chris Mullin
Steven Tyler
Gene Simmons
Anthony Kedis
Elton John
Natalie Wood
Nick Nolte
Tommy Lee Jones
Entry filed under: Alcoholism/Substance Abuse, Celebrity. Tags: Alcoholism, Lindsay Lohan, People, Robert Downey Jr, Substance abuse, Substance dependence, Twelve-step program, United States.
1.
Alcoholic | October 15, 2010 at 6:27 am
Interesting subject. The marajuana users in my group like to talk about this.
2.
annedoud | November 7, 2010 at 3:00 am
wow! That is a looooooooooooooong list! Amazing, so much talent. Was Anthony Hopkins on there? He is too.
3.
gooseberrybush | November 7, 2010 at 11:42 am
Hi, Anne. Yes, he was. Although, I missed quite a few folks I should have mentioned, I’m sure.
4.
The Girl From Out of Town | December 1, 2010 at 1:47 am
My shopaholicism/affluenza has been cured by unemployment, but that is an addiction, too.
5.
Bloney | June 28, 2011 at 10:41 pm
The lengthy list of alcoholics and substance addicts is flawed. Some people named are known to be completely sober individuals; one, in fact, who tried drugs only a single time in his entire life and who still has never tasted alcohol (that being Gene Simmons).
First of all, a drug or alcohol USER isn’t the same as an ABUSER.
Don’t know where Gooseberry got his/her information, but the errors that I have recognized cause the entire list to be suspect and lack credibility. Possibly this is because Gooseberry has found reports of particular people who have been reported to have been seen drunk, made some comment about an experience on drugs or drinking, or something of that nature. This is not enough to categorize individuals as alcoholics or drub abusers. An “addict” is a person who cannot stop using substances even when he/she knows full well the substance is causing significant problems with his/her life.
Certainly most of the individuals listed are or have been well-known serious alcoholics/drug addicts (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Alan Poe, Eric Clapton, Dave Mustaine, Janis Joplin, John Bonham, Jackie Gleason, and more). But with many of these people, while they are/have been known to imbibe somewhat too frequently, there is no evidence that they were “addicted” or that their uncontrollable drinking or using impacted their lives in a ruinous, irreversible way (John Ford, Stephen King, George W. Bush, Jimi Hendrix, Dick Van Dyke, Truman Capote, Joe Dimmagio, Ringo Starr, Trent Reznor, et al.).
Make sure you know your stuff and/or use proper terminology when you put this stuff online.
6.
Author | June 28, 2011 at 10:53 pm
I stand behind the list. It could be longer. I didn’t name these people willy-nilly. The list says Famous Alcoholics and Addicts, and Gene Simmons is most definitely a sex addict. He cannot stop having sex with multiple partners even when he’s in a committed relationship. He’s incapable of keeping it zipped, in other words, which will surely cause him consequences.
7.
dumbshit | September 16, 2011 at 1:32 pm
Wait…what did Jimi Hendrix die from again?
8.
rubber61 | January 29, 2012 at 3:46 pm
Great list-how did you establish that they were in fact alcies.?
9.
rich | March 27, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Oi, Wheres Keith Moon …& me?? lol
10.
dave | May 11, 2012 at 11:25 am
do you have to be addicted to alcohol to be an alcoholic?
11.
Wes | August 3, 2012 at 7:11 pm
An alcoholic is someone who cannot control their drinking once they start drinking and cannot stop drinking on their own for any significant amount of time no matter how much they want to.
12.
Cecil Legett | August 26, 2012 at 11:24 am
Divillabiss!!!
13.
Cecil Legett | August 26, 2012 at 11:26 am
Double Divillabiss!!!
14.
Jett Holland | November 16, 2012 at 7:25 pm
It is not the quantity that you drink that makes you an alcoholic..consequenses for alcoholics amy appear to be the same as for the person that drinks alcoholicly but the insanity of the alcoholic is more than just the allergy to alcohol it is the “Alcoholic Thinking”..as Bill Wilson noted therefore the main problem of the alcoholic centers in his (or her) mind.