Meridian Magazine : : Print

The Secret Curse of Hollywood 'Stars'
By David Kupelian

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3 KJV)

As a little boy I was transfixed, along with the rest of America, by the annual television rebroadcast of "The Wizard of Oz," starring 16-year-old singer-actress Judy Garland in the role of Dorothy. Her soulful acting, her classic rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," the story's dramatic final scene ("I'm not going to leave here ever again, because I love you all! And – Oh, Auntie Em – there's no place like home!") touched millions.

Garland was so talented, so beautiful. So perfect.

So it came as a shock when my parents told me this gifted young lady was miserable and had died of a sleeping pill overdose. Indeed, when she left this earth at the much-too-early age of 47, Judy Garland had struggled for two decades with drug-and-alcohol addiction, had been married five times, was plagued with self-doubt and had made several suicide attempts.

Of course, there have been many such tragic deaths over the years – from Marilyn Monroe to Elvis Presley. In her day, Monroe was idolized as America's reigning "sex goddess." Yet inwardly she grew increasingly conflicted and depressed, finally dying at 36, also from a sleeping pill overdose. The recent death of Monroe wannabee Anna Nicole Smith was eerily reminiscent of her idol's tragic demise.

Elvis Presley was undoubtedly the most worshipped man on earth. He had wealth beyond imagining and was literally idolized by millions worldwide. Yet at age 42, full of inner conflict – evident in his drug addiction, weight gain and increasing isolation – his legendary drug use finally caught up with him. In fact, during the last year of Presley's life, 1977, one physician alone reportedly prescribed 10,000 hits of amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, laxatives and hormones for "the king."

For every self-destructive superstar who dies such a sad, early death, there are hundreds of Hollywood celebrities who live profoundly dysfunctional, conflict-ridden lives. Drug and alcohol abuse are commonplace and divorce almost the norm. Yet these people seem to possess everything most of us secretly covet – talent, fame, good looks, wealth, adoration.

So what goes wrong? What secret curse afflicts them?

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