SoberHeroes — Betty Ford
No name is more synonymous with recovery than Betty Ford. As first lady, she struggled with addiction. She is best known for founding the Betty Ford Center.
SoberHeroes: Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is more than just a “scream queen,” the nickname she earned for her numerous appearances in blockbuster horror movies, including 1978’s Halloween and its sequel. Recovery is the greatest success of her life.
SoberHeroes: Diana Ross
Diana Ross is an astronomical powerhouse of a singer, having built her reputation as the star of The Supremes, one of the premier Motown acts of the 1960s. But beneath the chart-topping and star acting, a beastly addiction to alcohol and prescription painkillers emerged.
SoberHeroes: David Gahan of Depeche Mode
The longtime frontman for Depeche Mode, one of the world’s most popular and influential electronic groups was hooked on heroin. He somehow managed to not only clean up but come back more vital than before.
Soberheroes: Elton John
In the 1980s, when AIDS was first emerging, Sir Elton John was a wicked cocaine fiend. But he rose from addiction as a superstar performer and AIDS activist.
Ben Affleck: Playing Batman But a SoberHero No More
Ben Affleck fell off the wagon. After 12 years of sobriety, the Batman actor decided to imbibe again for his role in Gone Girl, playing a character who is hungover all the time. Affleck is an alcoholic. The Oscar-winner entered rehab in 2001 at the age of 31. Affleck battled alcoholism throughout the 1990s, culminating in his check-in to rehab at Promises, the same rehab that treated Robert Downey, Jr. Affleck was married to fellow Hollywood star Jennifer Garner, but she pulled the plug on the relationship, fed up with Ben’s drinking and gambling.
SoberHeroes: Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper stole my heart — not in The Hangover movies but in Silver Linings Playbook, in which he gave a strikingly accurate portrayal of what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder. But a little known fact about Cooper is that he is a recovering addict. In sobriety, he’s become a master at his craft.
SoberHeroes: Iggy Pop
Raw Power. It’s the title of the 1973 third album by Iggy and the Stooges. And it describes Iggy Pop to a T. An extreme heroin addict, Iggy Pop is a punk icon. He was a punk even before there was something called “punk.”
Pop was notorious for reckless performance antics — indecent exposure, rolling around shirtless in broken glass (he always performs shirtless) — and vomiting on the audience. He invented the stage dive.
SoberHeroes: David Bowie
David Bowie attacks rock ’n’ roll as if it were performance art. A musical chameleon, Bowie is a glam-rock god. But he was out of control with drugs.
SoberHeroes: Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey, Jr. is at the top of his game. He’s the highest-paid actor not just in Hollywood but the world — he made $80 million last year, according to Forbes. And he’s sober, having kicked alcohol, cocaine, and heroin.
