Have you ever had an idol who was an alcoholic?
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Join Date: Sep 2012
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Originally Posted by soberjuly 
Ernest Hemingway, Marilyn Monroe, Aldous Huxley, Stephen King, Truman Capote, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Dickens, Heath Ledger, John Belushi, Kurt Cobain, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Brian Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Billy Joel, Robin Williams, Matthew Perry, Eddie Van Halen, William Shatner, Elton John, Oliver Reed, Orson Welles, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Dick Van Dyke, Samuel Jackson, Buzz Aldrin, Ben Affleck, Michael J Fox, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Cook
Didn't idolize them but I did admire their books/music/movies/TV shows
Didn't idolize them but I did admire their books/music/movies/TV shows
Stevie nicks as well
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Midwest
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I think something Joe Walsh said in an interview rung true with me.
"So I had to reinvent and start from the bottom up and learn to live sober. I had to learn to play in front of people sober and that was terrifying. I thought there would be no more fun, I wouldn’t be funny. You just have to be sober a lot of consecutive days for things to make sense, so I spent some time doing that, and when I came out of my alcoholic haze, there was a big world out there that I had not been a part of, so I wanted to do a bunch of stuff sober, so I’ve been doing that."
"So I had to reinvent and start from the bottom up and learn to live sober. I had to learn to play in front of people sober and that was terrifying. I thought there would be no more fun, I wouldn’t be funny. You just have to be sober a lot of consecutive days for things to make sense, so I spent some time doing that, and when I came out of my alcoholic haze, there was a big world out there that I had not been a part of, so I wanted to do a bunch of stuff sober, so I’ve been doing that."
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Join Date: Apr 2014
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i was reading the other day about r. downey jr. -highest paid actor in the world this year. remember when he pretty much flamed out? it is inspiring.
in the non-famous category, i have several. admitting it and fixing it gets heroic high marks in my book. i especially gravitate towards those that come through the experience with a new-found zeal for life.
in the non-famous category, i have several. admitting it and fixing it gets heroic high marks in my book. i especially gravitate towards those that come through the experience with a new-found zeal for life.
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Originally Posted by Jade1224
Interesting - MOST of the celebrities being listed are men. Love Marilyn and Elizabeth though.
Stevie nicks as well
Stevie nicks as well
I also think Prince Harry might have a wee alcohol problem but I was trying to list ladies.
Carrie Fisher - my favorite princess! lol...
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Join Date: Mar 2011
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Almost all of my idols have deeply explored the darker recesses of human nature via whatever cornucopia of drugs and alcohol that got them there. But two that I especially admire, Nick Cave (of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and Marc Maron (comedian and host of the WTF podcast) are two good examples of guys whom are even more inspiring to me these days because of their sobriety. The novelist Raymond Carver, and his beautiful work, is also inspirational. He attained a modicum of sobriety towards the end of his life. The Paris Review interview with Carver, which touches on his struggle with the bottle, is both heartbreaking and profound: Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 76, Raymond Carver
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