Corey Haim, Corey Feldman and the pitfalls of Hollywood
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To put Corey Haim and his career in context, it helps to have a few years on you -- like, ‘I came of age in the ‘80s’ years. Check out the ‘Lucas’ trailer above and you might be surprised whom you see.
Among the names with lower billing than Haim in either ‘Lucas’ or ‘The Lost Boys: Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Winona Ryder, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Jami Gertz and Jeremy Piven -- a roster exemplifying the fact that each path through Hollywood is has its own pitfalls.
‘Lost Boys’ costar Corey Feldman appeared on ‘Larry King Live’ Wednesday (the video is embedded below), urging people not to speculate on Haim’s cause of death, even as he acknowledged his friend’s history with drugs (‘I know it better than anybody. ... I’ve been there with him through it many, many times,’ Feldman said) and then speculated on what, other than a drug overdose ...
... might have caused Haim’s death (kidney failure, heart failure, the body shutting down ‘after years of abuse’).
‘In Hollywood, we build people up as children, we put them on pedestals, and then when we decide that they’re not marketable anymore. We walk away from them,’ said Feldman, who started acting at age 3.
In acknowledging the industry’s expressions of sympathy, Feldman asked King where everyone was during the last 10 or 15 years, when Haim was struggling, short on cash, without a car, living month to month in the Oakwood apartments with his ailing mom, who has breast cancer.
He also criticized gossip outlets for taunting and teasing actors like Haim. ‘Why is it OK to kick somebody when they’re down? I don’t think it is.’
Feldman did think it was OK to exec-produce and costar in a 2007-08 A&E series, ‘The Two Coreys,’ featuring him and Haim. A capsule summary of the first episode in the series:
After a long hiatus, the ‘Two Coreys’ are finally reunited when Corey Haim comes to stay with his best friend, Corey Feldman, and his wife, Susie. But a lot has changed in the years they have been apart -- Feldman is married, a devout vegetarian, animal activist, and a non-smoker. Haim, still single and a committed carnivore, finds himself at odds with Feldman’s new lifestyle and struggles to adjust to the rules of the house. The tension peaks when Haim disrupts an important dinner meeting between the Feldmans and a PETA representative.
A capsule summary of the penultimate episode of ‘The Two Coreys’:
Corey Feldman vows that until Corey Haim gets clean, he and Susie want nothing to do with him. Haim’s assistant Nelle confronts him on his drug use. Haim’s mom arrives and she and Dr. Nicki discuss Haim’s problems with prescription pills. Feldman does a photo shoot and his image issues prompt him to get liposuction. He divulges that his insecurities mainly stem from the nature of the business that he was in at such an early age. Haim spirals even further as Nelle fears for his career and Dr. Nicki fears for his life.
We’ll let the series’ final episode speak for itself, but to quote Haim at the end: ‘It’s officially the end for the two Coreys, but it’s just a start for Corey Haim.’
Again, a reminder that every path through Hollywood has its own pitfalls.
-- Christie D’Zurilla
P.S. The Ministry would like to point out to King and Feldman that, with all due respect, the Oakwood apartments -- often marketed as corporate housing -- are hardly the lowest ‘low-priced rental’ SoCal has to offer. In Burbank, two-bedrooms start at $133 a day. The Ministry also would’ve liked to slick back that errant lock of Mr. Feldman’s hair, but that moment has passed.
Related dispatches from or approved by the Ministry of Gossip:
PREACH IT! Feldman and other celeb friends mourn Corey Haim, dead at 38
Corey Haim apparently overdosed on prescription drugs, law enforcement sources say
Details about one of Corey Haim’s final films emerge
Him, himself and he: The late Corey Haim, in better days
Actor Corey Haim, star of ‘The Lost Boys,’ ‘Lucas,’ dead at 38
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