A child star’s battle with fame and Hollywood’s dark side

As a young teenager, Corey Haim was flooded with fan mail from all over the world— thousands of letters poured in. But he was clearly unprepared for the intensity of fame and the feeling that he could get anything he wanted.

In 1988, on his way to the premiere of the hit comedy License to Drive, Corey was caught by reporters in a moment that perfectly captured his world as one of the ’80s poster boys.

“We’re going to take a shower together,” he was quoted telling his girlfriend Lala “and then you’re going to go home and do your makeup and hair and get dressed.”

Turning to his mom, Judy, he added:

“We’re calling a limo, aren’t we, Mom?”

The exchange showed just how much life in the spotlight had shaped Corey — even at a very young age.

Like many child actors, he didn’t stay in school for long. His formal education lasted only until eighth grade. Instead, Haim became a regular at Alphy’s Soda Pop Club, an exclusive nightclub for underage actors located in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Corey Haim’s struggle with addiction

According to Mirror, Haim started drinking beer while filming Lucas in 1986, and by the time The Lost Boys was in production, he was smoking marijuana.

After moving to Los Angeles, Haim’s drug use escalated. He began using cocaine and eventually crack, and by 1989, at just 18, he entered rehab for the first time.

Sadly, recovery proved difficult.

Haim described himself as a “chronic relapser” and also developed a dependence on prescription medications. At times, he would take as many as 85 pills in a single day.

Colleagues noted the toll addiction took on him. Dr. Nicki J. Monte, who worked with Haim and Feldman on The Two Coreys, said:

[Haim] had a tremendous saboteur inside of him. And that saboteur he surrendered to. He was living under the spell of his addiction, and he was never able to break that spell.”Continue reading…