Hall of Fame
R.I.P. Dennis Hopper
Jun 1st 2010
I`ve been sober now for 18 years. With all the drugs, psychedelics and narcotics I did, I was [really] an alcoholic. Honestly, I only used to do cocaine so I could sober up and drink more. My last five years of drinking was a nightmare. I was drinking a half-gallon of rum with a fifth of rum on the side, in case I ran out, 28 beers a day, and three grams of cocaine just to keep me moving around. And I thought I was doing fine because I wasn`t crawling around drunk on the floor.
–Dennis Hopper
[Quote from 2001]
Classic Drunk: Veronica Lake
Apr 13th 2010
Sexy blonde bombshell Veronica Lake was born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman on November 14, 1922. Expelled from a boarding school, Lake had a troubling childhood. Her mother contended that Veronica dealt with schizophrenia, but no formal diagnosis has been reported.
1941’s I Wanted Wings was her breakthrough role. The film was a box office hit. Later that year she starred in Hold Back the Dawn. Her more popular movies were Sullivan’s Travels, This Gun for Hire, and I Married a Witch.
Lake was considered one of the biggest box office draws in Hollywood during the early 1940s. Years later, Lake would quip, “I never did cheesecake; I just used my hair.” She became known for onscreen pairings with actor Alan Ladd. At first, the couple was teamed together merely out of physical necessity: Lake stood just 4 feet 11½ inches and Ladd was just 5 feet 5 inches tall. Veronica was the only actress then on the Paramount lot short enough to pair with Ladd, and they made four films together. More >
Classic Drunk: Robert Mitchum
Apr 1st 2010
Robert Mitchum was born in 1917 to the son of a sea captain’s daughter and a railroad worker. Mitchum was known as a prankster as a child, often involved in fights and creating havoc in the neighborhood. At age 14 while in Savannah, Georgia, he was arrested for vagrancy and put on a local chain gang; he escaped to return to his family in Delaware.
A nervous breakdown due to job-related stress led Robert to look for work as an actor or extra in movies. He appeared in a few B-movie westerns and appeared as a villain in several films between 1942 and 1943.
Mitchum would become most well-known due to his film noir films that were popular in the mid- to late-40’s. But his career was checkered with bad-boy activity. After a string of successful films for RKO, he and actress Lila Leeds were arrested for possession of marijuana. After serving a week at the county jail, he spent 43 days at a prison farm. The arrest didn’t affect Mitchum’s success in the long term. In fact, the conviction was later over-turned, as it was proven to be a setup. His studio, however, was embarrassed by the ordeal, and they ordered Mitchum to clean up his act or they would terminate his contract. More >
Classic Drunk: Peter Lawford
Mar 22nd 2010
British-born Rat Pack member was most well-known for his film roles as WWII heroes. His puppy-dog eyes and thick eyebrows made him a ladies’ man, and his lust for life made him a celebrity, but he threw it all away for drugs and alcohol.
Peter Lawford was born to un-wed parents. This caused a scandal that drove the family to the United States, where they traveled constantly. Because of his family’s travels, Peter was never formally educated, and his lack of education was a sore subject. It contributed to his low self-esteem later on as a member of the Kennedy family (his brother-in-law was JFK), and throughout his adult life.
Injuring his arm in a childhood accident kept Peter from entering World War II, the greatest thing that could happen to his acting career. Hollywood was infatuated with heroic Englishmen, and as war movies were being churned out by the dozens, Peter Lawford was just what America was looking for.
Once he signed with MGM, his mother insisted that studio head Louis B. Mayer pay her a salary as Peter’s personal assistant. Mayer declined, so Mrs. Lawford responded by claiming her son to be homosexual and that he needed to be “supervised”. When Peter learned of his mother’s actions their relationship was never the same. More >
Classic Drunk: Errol Flynn
Mar 10th 2010
as previously posted on Sweepea’s Lounge
A 6-foot, 2-inch tall Tasmanian devil of the new sound pictures in Hollywood, Flynn’s reputation as a troublemaker and a ladies’ man was well-earned. His roles in “Adventures of Robin Hood,” “Captain Blood,” and “Don Juan” quickly promoted his status as the Hollywood romeo.
He liked all the best things in life: sex, drinking, sex, boating, sex, fighting, and more sex. Oh yeah, and did we mention sex? When banned from drinking on a film set, Flynn injected oranges with vodka and would eat them during his breaks.
So publicized were his exploits that his off-screen life riveted fans more than his roles on-screen. Most notoriously, he was charged with statutory rape in 1942 but was acquitted — and the press coined the phrase “in like Flynn”. The incident did not tarnish his career; in fact, it served to increase his reputation as a ladies’ man.
Famous Drunks: Richard Harris
Aug 27th 2007
Richard Harris – Irish actor. When asked for his favorite food replied “I adore the hamburgers at P. J. Clarke’s. In my drinking days, it was my first stop from the airport. A fellow named Vinny used to be the bartender there, and when I told him I wanted the usual, he lined up six double vodkas. I told an interviewer that once, and he said, ‘That’s a lot of bull, that’s one of your exaggerated stories!’ I said, ‘Call a taxi.’ We walked into P.J. Clarke’s, I said, ‘Vinny, my usual.’ And he lined up six double vodkas.”
Richard St. John Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor, singer and songwriter. He was featured on stage and in many films, and was perhaps best known for the film role of King Arthur in Camelot (1967) , as Oliver Cromwell in Cromwell and for the portrayal of Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), his last film. He also played a British aristocrat and prisoner in A Man Called Horse (1970).
Harris was a notorious playboy and drinker, part of a rowdy generation of British and Irish actors including Albert Finney, Laurence Harvey, Peter Finch, Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole.
Famous Drunks: John Barrymore
Jul 25th 2007
John Barrymore – American actor. A biographer of Barrymore estimated “. . . in 40 years he consumed 640 barrels of hard liquor.”
He was known for calling people by nicknames of his own creation. Dolores Costello was known in his writing alternately as “Small Cat,” “Catkiwee,” “Winkie”, and “Egg.”
He was fond of sailing, and owned his own yacht, “The Mariner”, on which he could escape unhappy wives, mistresses, lawyers, and creditors.
He owned a pet monkey named Clementine, which he adored, and which appeared with her master in the films The Sea Beast (1926), Don Juan (1926), and When A Man Loves (1927). Clementine was a gift from English actress Gladys Cooper.
He named his favourite accommodation in a boarding house “The Alchemist’s Corner.”
The Barrymore Estate is believed to be haunted by his spirit, referenced in Paul Rudnick play I Hate Hamlet.
Quotations
“Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?”
“A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.”
On the subject of theatre reviews: “Actors should never read them. If you don’t believe the bad ones, why should you pay attention to the good ones?” said to John Carradine, who was performing in If I Were King at the Philharmonic Theatre in Los Angeles.