Corey Feldman biography

Synopsis

Early Career

Actor Corey Feldman was born July 16, 1971, in Los Angeles, California. Feldman was the second of five children born to Sheila Feldman, a former Playboy bunny, and Bob Feldman, a songwriter and music producer. The cherubic-cheeked Feldman landed his first professional acting job in a McDonald's television commercial at the age of 3, launching his career as a child star.

Feldman worked ceaselessly throughout his youth, which he later said was his parents' choice and not his own. He appeared in more than 100 commercials and 50 television shows, including Cheers and Mork and Mindy. His parents soon built their own careers upon his acting success-his mother served as Feldman's manager, and his father opened a talent agency for child stars.

Commercial Success

Corey Feldman made his first film appearance in a bit part in the 1979 movie Time After Time. His career truly took off in 1984, starting with Friday the 13th: Final Chapter. He followed this with starring roles in 15 consecutive hit movies. Feldman became synonymous with a number of beloved 1980s teen classics, including Gremlins, Stand by Me and The Goonies.

In 1987, he starred in the movie The Lost Boys with fellow teen star Corey Haim. The film became a cult classic, and "the Coreys" were hyped endlessly as co-teen heartthrobs. The two friends appeared in several films together before parting ways professionally in the early 1990s, "tired of the 'Corey Mania,'" as Feldman later recalled.

Personal Life

Despite his professional success, Feldman's personal life was deeply troubled. He later claimed his parents beat him ("I couldn't be abused too badly when I was working because they didn't want me to have bruises," he later told an interviewer) and became legally emancipated from them at the age of 15. He began drinking and smoking pot while filming Stand by Me at 14, and his experimentation with drugs soon spiraled into full-blown addiction. In 1990, at the age of 19, he was arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin. After two more drug arrests, he checked in for a 10-month stint in rehab in 1991. His marriage to actress Vanessa Marcil, whom he married in 1989, ended in divorce in 1993.

Comeback

Depressed, washed up, and facing $200,000 in legal and tax bills, Feldman worked to rebuild his life. He took a string of small parts in B-movies and television shows, and explored his love of music. A self-taught musician, Feldman released his first solo album in 1994. He followed that up in 1999 with Still Searching for Soul, the first album from his band Truth Movement.