When Leif Garrett first found success as an actor, he won the hearts of countless young fans. Later, he shifted his focus to music, becoming one of the most well-known young stars of his generation.
Garrett was just five years old when he made his on-screen debut in the movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, which was the sixth highest-grossing film of 1969. His performance was so impressive that everyone predicted a bright future for him.
After his debut, the dreamy-eyed heartthrob starred in Walking Tall and its sequels. In 1983, he appeared in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders alongside other teen sensations like Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Swayze, and Tom Cruise.
Garrett also made appearances in popular TV series like Family, The Odd Couple (1974), Wonder Woman (1978), and CHiPs (1979).
He then decided to try his hand at music and found success there too. When his debut album, Leif Garrett, was released in 1977, it grabbed a lot of attention. Garrett felt on top of the world with the tours that soon followed.
“In Sydney, Australia, they had to fly me in by helicopter before I hopped into an armored sedan and drove into the theater through the back door,” Garrett told the New York Daily News in 1979. “I tried to use a limo before, but the fans almost knocked it over. They just go wild with adrenaline. It’s pretty crazy.”
However, Garrett faced challenges like adjusting to adulthood and dealing with problems with his managers. He once commented, “I think I was a good performer from the start, but I wish they had given me singing lessons before making a record.
Some tracks don’t even sound like me. I’d call it fraud. It’s like a Milli Vanilli situation, except mine was a mix of me and another person.”
Garrett started abusing drugs and alcohol, which affected his career. In 1979, he was involved in a car crash that left his friend Ronald Winkler paraplegic.
According to Garrett’s book Idol Truth, he soon began hanging out with famous figures, including the band members of Queen and their legendary vocalist Freddie Mercury, who introduced him to the wild worlds of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
“I don’t think I was a very responsible 16-year-old. I grew up fast because I was always around adults who were smoking and doing coke. Even though I was a kid, I was treated like an adult. And I paid for everything myself.”
He continued, “I have the most loyal fan base I could ever imagine. They’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. I’ve made a lot of bad choices. But I didn’t get the parental guidance I needed at the time.”
Garrett faced legal issues and went in and out of rehab. Later, he claimed he was coerced into appearing on the VH1 reality show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which caused him to relapse for the sake of drama.
“They asked for footage of me using, and I said, ‘I haven’t been using.’ They insisted, ‘We need footage of you using.’ So I was easily persuaded to show them,” Garrett told the LA Times.
Now 61 years old and sober, Garrett reflected on his journey. “I served a 90-day county jail sentence. Before that, I was in court-ordered rehab. When my mother visited, she told me she had stage IV lung cancer. She lived alone, so I said, ‘I’m leaving to take care of her.’
I started using again because of that. So it was like, ‘Cuff him, bring him in,’ and I completed the 90 days, and that was it,” he explained to Best Life.
Garrett shared with Closer, “I’ve kept every photo or letter a fan sent, telling me about having my posters on their walls and kissing me good night before they went to bed. It’s a little embarrassing and surreal, but it’s incredibly flattering.
I’m so grateful I can still work at something I love and get paid for it because of my fans.”
We are happy that Garrett was able to turn his life around.
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