Corey Feldman is one of those former child actors whose face was seen on nearly everyone’s screens back in the ‘80s heyday. He was a teen idol, starring in The Goonies, Lost Boys and Stand by Me. He also became popular through his friendships with his famous late friends, Corey Haim and Michael Jackson. Those were the early days of his career.
Eventually, Feldman’s name became associated with drugs and legal turmoil. You can say it was only a matter of time until the rope unraveled, considering his less-than-ideal childhood – and that’s putting it very nicely. Feldman is currently on a mission – to expose the no.1 problem in Hollywood (which we’ll get to soon).
These are the ups and downs in Corey Feldman’s roller coaster of a life.
The ‘80s Were Special for Corey Feldman
The beginning of Corey Feldman’s career is well-documented and highly impressive. He got his start in TV commercials – about 100 of them. His first-ever commercial was at the age of three for McDonald’s. But commercials were just the beginning for him in the TV industry. He moved on to find roles on shows – about 50 of them.
As a young kid, Feldman appeared in series like Mork & Mindy, Eight Is Enough and Cheers. From there, he expanded to the world of cinema. The ‘80s were something special for Feldman, who starred in future cult classics like Gremlins, Goonies and Stand by Me. In 1987, Feldman starred alongside Corey Haim in The Lost Boys, and the two boys would essentially grow up together in Hollywood, experiencing both the extreme highs and devastating lows that come with the package.
“A Lot of Weird Stuff” Happened to Him
“I’ve had a lot of weird stuff happen in my life; let’s leave it at that.”
The highs of Hollywood were definitely the kind to brag about. He remembers the fun he had on the set, shooting Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter in 1984. He looks back fondly on the friendship he made with his Stand by Me co-star River Phoenix (who died of an overdose in 1993 at the age of 23).
“He was always a great guy. We had so much fun together. There was never a bad moment, never an awkward moment. It was always laughs and fun,” Feldman recalled. Shooting Gremlins was another memorable one for Feldman…
Seeing Gizmo for the First Time
He was 13 when he was cast as Pete in 1984’s Gremlins. He remembers seeing the model for Gizmo for the first time with “tubes sticking out of his butt.” One day, in an effort to seem cool at school, he brought a piece of Mogwai fur to class during the time he was shooting Gremlins.
In hindsight, he probably should have waited until after the movie came out. “What the hell is mogwai fur?” some kid yelled at Feldman before throwing a spitball at him. A year later, he starred as Clark, aka Mouth, in another major hitter – The Goonies.
He Begged to Get Michael Jackson on the Set of The Goonies
Fans of the film might remember the moment when he yells, “Reverse pressure!” Well, he was actually thinking about Michael Jackson. At the time, Feldman was a huge MJ fan and spent weeks pestering Steven Spielberg (the executive producer of The Goonies) to bring his pop star friend to the set.
On the day they shot the scene where the kids mess with the plumbing at the Astoria Country Club, Spielberg used the moment to his advantage. Seconds before calling “Action!” he pulled a sneaky move to capture Feldman’s “Reverse pressure!” line. He told the young actor: “Today’s the day, Corey. Michael Jackson is coming to set.” You bet you’re a$$ Feldman was amped up enough to scream the line with real oomph.
The Time He and MJ Disguised Themselves at Disneyland
There was a time when Feldman and Jackson went to Disneyland in disguise to avoid being spotted. Feldman wore aviator sunglasses and a fake mustache, while Jackson disguised himself with a fake nose (ironic, yes), sunglasses, and “a giant afro.”
The friends – 13 years apart in age – managed to stay the entire evening at the theme park without being recognized. They ended up getting a last-minute room to stay for the night. According to Feldman, when Jackson realized the room had only one bed, he requested a cot for himself and insisted that Feldman take the bed.
His Unlikely and Complicated Friendship With MJ
As a child and teenager, Feldman was close friends with Jackson. In his book, Coreyography, he wrote and spoke about his childhood experiences with the pop star. “Michael Jackson’s world, crazy as it sounds, had become my happy place… Being with Michael brought me back to my innocence.”
Throughout the book, Feldman maintains that Jackson never acted inappropriately toward him. He went further to state that, to his knowledge, neither did he with other kids. “He was adamantly against drugs and alcohol; he was extremely strait-laced; I couldn’t even swear around him,” he wrote.
Goodbye “Megalo Man:” The End of Their Friendship
“I believed in your words
I believed in your lies
But in September in New York
You left me to die
I love you, Megalo Man.”
Their friendship came to a halt in 2001 when Jackson thought Feldman would negatively portray him in his upcoming book, which only came out in 2013, four years after Jackson died.
It was Feldman who claimed that on September 11, 2001, Jackson helped get Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor and Liza Minnelli out of town… but not him. Feldman, also a singer, retaliated with his song Megalo Man. The lyrics, as you can see above, are pretty self-explanatory.
A Decadent Night at the Four Seasons
In 1989, when Feldman was filming Dream a Little Dream, him, Corey Haim, Ricky Schroeder, and Mark Rocco (the director) threw an epic party at The Four Seasons in LA. The studio told them to relax for a final night in the hotel suites. Instead, Feldman, Haim, and Rocco called some friends, and their impromptu bash quickly spun out of control.
About a thousand people showed up. The minibar fridge somehow wound up in a bathtub. Studio execs were faced with a $10,000 bill the next morning. Press reports read: “Televisions were tossed out of windows, Haim and Ricky Schroeder hosed down a stripper with Champagne, and kids went streaking down the halls of the penthouse.”
What Goes Up Must Come Down
But with all the highs that Hollywood offers are the lows, like the time he almost got fired from The Lost Boys. He did coke for the first time on the set of the film, and there was one point where he was so out of it that director Joel Schumacher fired him.
The next day, though, Schumacher changed his mind. It became clear on the set of that film that Feldman had real issues with his drug-abusing mother. His co-star Kiefer Sutherland saw Feldman sitting outside of his hotel room in tears because of his mother.
Keifer Sutherland Was Looking Out for Him
“We all knew what a mess she was,” Kiefer told him when the two reunited years later. “There were so many times I wanted to go down there, to shake some sense into her,” Feldman recalls the moment Sutherland saw him crying on set.
He knows that Sutherland spent that evening with Jason Patric and Dianne Wiest in their hotel room, sharing a bottle of wine and watching TV. “But every half hour or so, he’d pull back the curtains and peer out the window, checking on me, checking to see if I was still there.”
He Refers to It Now as “Slavery”
Feldman’s entire career – as full as it was/is – started more or less against his will. Feldman said it all began with The AV Club and stated the obvious in an interview: “At three years old, kids don’t really find their way into anything or make any type of decisions.” He went further, saying, “at three years old, it’s called child slavery, and that’s what I endured: Child slavery.”
He acknowledged the success he accomplished but corrected himself by saying it was more his parents who enjoyed the success. The mid- ‘80s movies Feldman starred in put him smack dab in the middle of the spotlight, becoming a teen idol. And soon enough, he was a tabloid staple.
He Became a Tabloid Staple
Thanks to his hard-partying ways and close friendship with Haim (who died of pneumonia in 2010), the two Coreys found themselves making tabloid headlines more often than not. Of course, Feldman was enjoying the highs of his success at the time, but his personal life was filled with tragedy.
In his 2013 memoir Coreyography, he revealed that he was abused by his mother and assaulted by men in the entertainment industry for years. His troubled childhood and relationship with his mother resulted in a kind of pain that he couldn’t help but wear on his sleeve, so to speak.
Hiding His Pain Behind His Smile
Feldman revealed that the main reason he landed the role of Teddy Duchamp in 1986’s Stand by Me was because director Rob Reiner connected with the fact that he had “such an incredible amount of pain” in his eyes. People like Reiner picked up on it, but most people in the industry had no idea what Feldman was really feeling underneath his teen idol smile.
He kept it largely under wraps. Director and producer Richard Donner, who worked on The Goonies and The Lost Boys with Feldman, said in 2000 that he “never realized the degree Corey was suffering… He never let anybody know.”
He Was Emancipated From His Parents at 15
In 1986, Feldman learned that his parents spent a large number of his earnings on his films. He was reportedly left with only $40,000 in his account. It proved to be the spark that ignited Feldman’s next move: to seek independence from his parents.
At the age of 15, he was freed from his parent’s legal custody. He was finally emancipated. In 2016, he said, “My parents were both very abusive and very selfish and were more interested in what was happening with themselves than what was happening with my life.”
The Son of Two Has-Beens
Feldman’s pain started earlier than most. In his autobiography, he describes his father as mostly absent in his life. Bob Feldman was a bassist and one of the many of the one-hit-wonder musicians of the ‘60s (he wrote My Boyfriend’s Back by The Angels). The post-fame musician would get high with his son but left most of the raising to his wife, Sheila Feldman.
The cocktail waitress and former Playboy model wasn’t the kind of mother you would want to raise your child. She belittled her son about his weight and even force-fed him diet pills. His parents split when he was 11.
It Was Only a Matter of Time
Around that time, he started getting bullied by his classmates. He told PEOPLE in 1992 that he found a pistol in his grandfather’s gun collection and kept it under his bed. He then candidly explained that he hated himself and contemplated taking his own life.
It was only a matter of time until he learned to self-medicate. In fact, it was on the set of Stand by Me that he was introduced to marijuana and alcohol. Not just him, but his co-star as well. River Phoenix and Feldman experienced their first “doobie” together on that set back in 1986. The two pals persuaded some guy in the sound department to let them each take a hit off his bong. After they giggled like school kids for a few minutes, both claimed they didn’t feel anything.
His Own Father Sued Him
His father, who acted as his manager for a time, actually sued his own son. The reason? He was taking time away from his business to be on the set with his son. At one point, Bob Feldman hired an assistant named “Ron.”
According to Feldman, Ron introduced him to drugs and molested him, which eventually became a shared experience with his friend Corey Haim. When the two boys bonded on the set of The Lost Boys, Haim told him that he had been sexually harassed by an older man on the set of the film Lucas.
Carrie Fisher Begged Him to Get Clean
In an attempt to start over, Feldman moved into his own apartment and started to climb the ladder of fame again with movies like Lost Boys and License to Drive. He developed more than just a few bad habits.
One of the people who encouraged the actor to get clean was a fellow star, Carrie Fisher. By the time Feldman was 17 and shooting the 1989 comedy The ‘Burbs, his drug issues became so apparent that Fisher and the film’s director Joe Dante were taking him aside and insisting that he seek help.
10 Months in Rehab Opened Doors to His Past
Feldman recalled the words the late actress told him: “Please, listen to me… You are such a talented actor, but if you keep going down this road, you’re going to throw it all away. You’ve got to stop before it’s too late.”
He didn’t listen, though. Hard drugs were now in his daily routine, leading to his inevitable arrests. He was arrested three times on drug charges before finally entering rehab in December 1990. It was during his 10-month stay at a live-in facility in North Hollywood that he revealed the extent of the abuse he endured in his childhood to his therapist.
Vanessa Marcil: Wife #1
Marcil met Feldman in the late ‘80s, and they got married pretty much on a whim that same year. In 1993, after having been separated from him for a year, she was in an interview with Soap Opera Digest, saying they married impulsively. She even kept the marriage hidden from her parents for nearly a year.
“We were kids,” Marcil began. “I was 18, it was puppy love, and we thought it would be fun to fly to Las Vegas at 3 o’clock in the morning and get married. Corey was going through his little teen-heartthrob period.”
It Wasn’t a Conventional Marriage
Marcil also explained that both Feldman’s publicist and agent didn’t want anyone to know about their impromptu wedding. While they were legally married for only three years, it wasn’t a conventional marriage.
She revealed that the couple never even moved in together or did” any of the married stuff,” adding, “Really, how much of a marriage can you have at 18?” When Feldman was hospitalized for his drug use, their “relationship took a different turn.” They divorced in 1993 but remained “very close friends.” Yet, on multiple occasions in alter interviews, Marcil has denied their marriage.
She Later Denied It Ever Happened
In 1999, she told Entertainment Weekly that their marriage was “actually a joke we played on our friends. We were messed-up kids, you know?” she explained that now that she’s in the public eye, the whole thing became a bad rumor.
“To say that we were really married is completely not true.” She also told Maxim in 2005 that she “never married” Feldman. Whether she wants to admit it or not, the two were indeed legally married.
Anyway, Feldman ended up getting married for a second time a decade later. This time, to an actress and model named Susie Sprague…
Susie Sprague: Wife #2
He met the actress and model in a nightclub in January of 2002. By October, they walked down the aisle, believe it or not, on the final episode of The Surreal Life’s first season. The ceremony was co-officiated by a rabbi as well as by MC Hammer, who is actually an ordained minister.
In 2009, the couple split after a seven-year marriage. In that period, they had a son together whom they named Zen Scott. Sprague sought full custody of their son, while Feldman sought joint custody. After five long years in a legal battle, their divorce was finally over.
Courtney Anne Mitchell: Wife #3
His third and current wife is his long-time Canadian girlfriend Courtney Anne Mitchell, whom he married in 2016. She is the keyboardist and DJ for Feldman’s band Corey Feldman & The Angels. The pair met during a Midsummer’s Night Dream party in 2011 after she was photographed for Playboy.
Feldman once confessed that he dated women who “sell themselves short,” but that Mitchell was his “no. 1 partner.” He reportedly wrote his proposal on a piece of paper, like a high school note. Their wedding was held at Elton John’s Fizz champagne lounge at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
He Dated Drew Barrymore
Barrymore has had an, um, eclectic dating history (remember Tom Green?). There was a time in the late ‘80s when these child stars were an item. In 1989, 14-year-old Barrymore dated 18-year-old Feldman for a little while after they appeared together on an episode of CBS Schoolbreak Special.
Cute, yes, but they only dated for a few months. Still, they managed to make some memorable appearances. Feldman even showed up to that year’s Academy Awards with Barrymore on his arm. In HIS memoir, he revealed that their actual “first date” was four years before that – when she was 10, and he was 14.
The Other Ladies in His Past
According to Celebriot, Feldman has dated other actresses in his heyday, including Heather Graham, Alyssa Milano and Shannon Malone. He and Malone dated sometime between 1999 and 2001. They also starred together in the 2010 horror film Seance.
Milano actually dated both Coreys – Feldman and Haim. She was one of the few that spoke out, alongside Feldman, about the abuse they experienced. She stated that she didn’t know about it when it was happening. Feldman defended her after the statements started making headlines.
An Oddball Performance on the Today Show
In 2016, the actor-turned-musician went viral after an inexplicable and bizarre performance on the Today Show. His solo album, called Angelic 2 The Core, features both pop and rock tunes and includes collaborations with some famous artists, like Fred Durst, Snoop Dogg, POET (Black Eyed Peas), and more.
Public interest in the album and Feldman himself hit a boiling point after he performed one of the album’s singles, Go 4 It, live on the Today Show. Feldman donned a grim reaper outfit and busted out some Michael Jackson-inspired dance moves, all while backed by his band of scantily clad “angels.”
Corey’s Angels
But it got weirder: the girls in the backing band are part of a business venture that Feldman calls “Corey’s Angels.” It’s basically his own version of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Bunnies. Apparently, the angels were (are?) his “girlfriends” who live with him at his home, aka “The Feldmansion.”
There are reportedly no male “invited guests” are allowed to set foot in the bachelor pad (yes, he married his wife the same year as this performance). Reportedly, the girls have signed a contract that prohibits them from eating meat, drinking alcohol, wearing jeans, or gaining weight.
The Painful Aftermath
Feldman promotes Corey’s Angels as an organization that helps “lost girls.” He’s on a mission to help them better themselves by finding their footing in the entertainment industry. At least that what he says…
Many people wonder if Feldman’s oddball performance – and his new identity as a Manson/Hefner/MJ performer – was all just one big publicity stunt to become an overnight internet sensation. If that’s the case, it really backfired. In a since-deleted Facebook Live post, he and his wife cried over the aftermath of that performance, which has been “really painful,” and that Feldman has never had “such mean things” said about him.
“It Was a Song, Okay?”
Feldman broke down as he addressed his fans, claiming that he and his Angels “tried really hard” to give their fans the best show they could. “It was a song, okay? It wasn’t that weird. I’m sorry if it’s not good enough for you, but you don’t have to beat us up.”
He also revealed that he was afraid to leave his house out of fear. “We can’t get out of bed right now,” he said in the video. “We’re petrified to even go out.” Plenty of famous faces came out in support of Corey, including his Stand by Me co-star Jerry O’Connell and his Goonies co-star Sean Astin.
He Was Summoned to Testify Against MJ
After Michael Jackson cut him off in the early 2000s, Feldman expressed a sense of frustration toward his former friend. The way he sees it – and what he claimed – was that Jackson did “real damage” to his childhood by befriending and then abandoning him.
Jackson was doing more harm than good by abandoning all those kids when he grew bored with them, according to Feldman. By 2005, Feldman was summoned to testify against Jackson in the child molestation trial. In the end, he never testified. Feldman said he started looking at “each piece of information,” which resulted in this “sickening realization.”
There Was This Book, Though…
Feldman realized that there were many occurrences in his life and relationship with Jackson “that have created a question of doubt.” He stated: “I hope, and I pray that these things never happened, and if they never happened, then there’s some real sickness with a lot of people. But if they did happen, then there’s a lot of sickness with one person. And that person needs to be punished.”
Despite the fact that Feldman always insisted that Jackson never touched him, he did recall a time when he was 13 or 14 when Jackson showed him a book “focused on venereal diseases and the genitalia.”
He Could No Longer Defend Him
In hindsight, Feldman saw this behavior as inappropriate, but he found a way to rationalize it. He commented on how Jackson was “just being parental for a boy who had no guidance.” After the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland was released, Feldman at first repeated his motto – that Jackson never acted inappropriately towards him.
Two days later, however, he changed his stance. He now could “no longer defend” Jackson. “It comes to a point where, as an advocate for victims, it becomes impossible for me to remain virtuous and not at least consider what’s being said.”
The End of the Two Coreys
Then there was the tragic end to his friendship with Corey Haim, who had his own struggles with addiction and abuse. The pair co-starred in a reality show, The Two Coreys, in 2008, which revolved around Haim’s attempts to get his life back on track after getting clean.
Haim also moved in with Feldman and his then-wife Sprague. The show was supposed to be light, but it ended up painting a portrait of sobriety and troubled youth. The Coreys publicly discussed their history of sexual abuse in the second season. It wasn’t long after that Haim relapsed. And it wasn’t long after that that Feldman broke contact with him.
An Epidemic in Hollywood
He told PEOPLE in 2008: “As a friend and somebody that cares deeply about the guy, I am not going to watch him destroy himself.” Two years later, Haim died of pneumonia. After losing his friend and his show, Feldman positioned himself as an advocate for child stars, both past and present.
In his opinion, childhood sexual abuse is an epidemic in Hollywood. (It should be stated, though, that many are skeptical of his claims). About what allegedly happened to Haim, Feldman has no doubts. “Not one,” he said. If you ask Haim’s mother, Judy, she would tell you that her son was never violated by anyone and that Feldman is jealous of her boy’s success.
He Made Quite a Statement on Dr. Oz
In 2017, Feldman spoke about the time when police interviewed him during the 1993 investigation of Michael Jackson, complaining that the authorities ignored his actual molester. They also did not take “no” for an answer in regard to Jackson molesting him.
Feldman went so far as to say, to Dr. Oz, “You want to know what I really think? They were trying to frame Michael Jackson and bury the Corey Feldman story.” In 2019, Feldman tweeted in response to complaints about Jackson, calling him “a dear friend” and criticized what he called “horrid accusations about him.”
He Talks to Haim Through a Medium?
If you thought Feldman’s life couldn’t get any more sensational, you should hear about his connection to the paranormal. He’s claimed that he talks to Haim through a psychic. He filmed an episode of Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry and teared up when Henry allegedly contacted his late best friend.
According to Haim’s mother, who clearly hates Feldman, the crying was just an act – bogus tears shed only for a paycheck. Judy Haim says that when her son was trying to get clean, he distanced himself from Feldman. In her opinion, Feldman continues to play up their friendship because he’s desperate to be relevant. Ouch.
Fearing for His Life
Feldman recently released his controversial documentary, ‘My Truth: The Rape of 2 Coreys. Yes, judging by the name, you can tell that it’s going to raise a few eyebrows. Feldman revealed that, in light of the film, he hired 24-hour protection because he fears for his life.
The film exposes a secret Hollywood pedophile ring the actor claims ruined his and Haim’s lives. The 49-year-old has decided to reveal several names, including that of Charlie Sheen, of people who victimized him and his friend. Shortly after the release of the documentary, many of Feldman’s former band members came forward, exposing the challenges they faced while working with Feldman on the project.
Sheen Denies It All
Yes, Charlie Sheen was one of the names Feldman named in his documentary. According to what Haim told Feldman, 19-year-old Sheen violated 13-year-old Haim while making the 1986 film Lucas. Of course, Sheen absolutely denied ever engaging in improper behavior with Haim.
Sheen told EW: “These sick, twisted and outlandish allegations never occurred. Period.” There were several others featured in the documentary which also claimed that Haim either directly told them he had was abused by Sheen as a child or that they heard of it from other people years later.
Naming His Own Perpetrators
As for Feldman’s own abusers, he named them, too. He named the three men he had already accused previously. The first was Jon Grissom, an actor who did small roles in License to Drive and Dream a Little Dream. The second was nightclub owner Alphy Hoffman, and the third was former talent manager Marty Weiss.
Grissom denied the allegations in a YouTube comment (of all places). “I said it’s not me. I’m sick and tired of saying that when no one listens. So goddamnit, I’m not repeating it anymore.” Hoffman never publicly addressed the allegations after Feldman named him on The Dr. Oz Show in 2017.
A Convenient Error Message
As for Weiss, he too denied the allegations, tweeting, “Corey Haim would never grandstand sex abuse for profit nor would he have thrown innocent names around due to personal vendettas.” The documentary was a pay-per-view event online for $20 a ticket, but 45 minutes after it began, an error messaged popped up.
Viewers suddenly saw an error message or a black box. The site was then updated: “Please be patient. The hackers are trying to prevent the stream from airing. The program will begin momentarily. We appreciate your patience and support!”