Celebrity Families: Inheriting Addiction
Three generations of the Douglas family—Kirk, Michael, and Cameron—starred in 2003′s “It Runs in the Family,” a movie whose title suggests that acting, in this case at least, can be inherited. But the Douglas family also seems to pass along something else: addiction. ABC News discusses drug and alcohol addiction among celebrity families in the article “When Fame and Addiction Run in the Family.”
Michael Douglas’s son Cameron, age 30, was arrested at the upscale Hotel Gansevoort in Manhattan and faces charges of dealing methamphetamine. In 2007, Cameron was arrested in California on cocaine possession charges, and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct.
Earlier this year, Cameron was evicted from his $4,200/month home after falling behind on the rent. His landlord told Star magazine that he left behind a mess of drug paraphernalia.
His father faced similar issues several years ago. In 1992, Michael Douglas went to rehab for alcoholism. In 2004, his half-brother, Eric Douglas, died of a drug and alcohol overdose at the age of 46. Kirk Doulgas, 92, addressed the death of his son in 2007, saying, “My wife Annie and I discuss it…for years and years we tried to do everything we could, but nothing helped.”
The O’Neal family faces a similar problem. When Tatum O’Neal was arrested for allegedly trying to buy crack cocaine on a New York street corner, nearly ruining her yearlong sobriety, she told People magazine, “[Addiction] runs in families.” Her famous father Ryan O’Neal, brother Griffin, and half-brother Redmond have all had problems with drugs.
Griffin O’Neal recently told Vanity Fair and Larry King that his father Ryan gave him cocaine before they watched a screening of Ryan’s movie “Barry Lyndon” because Ryan said “it was a long movie.” Griffin was 11 years old.
Griffin also told Larry King that Ryan fueled Redmond’s addiction, supplying him with cash for his drugs. He said Redmond and Ryan used to party together and were even arrested together last May for possession of methamphetamines during a routine check on Redmond, who was on probation for previous charges of meth and heroin possession and a DUI.
Redmond, who was arrested on a second drug charge weeks later, was sent to jail and is now in a court-mandated rehab program.
Lindsay Lohan is another example of inheriting addiction. After her third stint in rehab and her second arrest, Lindsay pleaded guilty to cocaine use and driving under the influence in August 2007 and was sentenced to one day in jail and 10 days of community service. In a statement, she said, “It is clear to me that my life has become completely unmanageable because I am addicted to alcohol and drugs.”
Her father, Michael, has talked openly about his struggles with drugs and alcohol. He has served time for assault and DUI charges but has maintained sobriety by working as a counselor with a Christian ministry.
Robert Downey Jr. has made many headlines over the years due to his drug addiction, which his father also suffered from. From 1996 to 2001, Downey Jr. was arrested on numerous drug-related charges. He was finally sentenced to a three-year prison term in 1999. He said he started using drugs at an early age and was introduced to them by his father, director Robert Downey Sr.
In a 1998 interview, Downey Jr. said, “There was always a lot of pot and coke around.” He also said that drugs became an emotional bond between him and his father. “When my dad and I would do drugs together, it was like him trying to express his love for me in the only way he knew how.”
Other famous families who have battled addiction are the Barrymores (Drew, her father John Drew, and her grandfather John); Liza Minnelli and her mother Judy Garland; Charlie Sheen and his father Martin; and brothers Daniel and Stephen Baldwin.
Dr. Timmen Cermak, president-elect of the California Society of Addiction Medicine, told ABC News that famous families and addiction tend to go hand in hand. “Clearly if you are socialized in a family, in a community that is a high-drinking or high drug-use [one], then that becomes the norm to you,” he said.
“Wealth can both open the doors of treatment,” Cermak said. “It can also protect people from the consequences. They get a DUI, they hire a great lawyer.”
