The drunkards and drug addicts game...

[Silas Thorne]

Not all poets and writers or other artist were alcoholics and drug addicts, were they?

Maybe we could take turns to add the name of an artist,poet or writer who had problems with drinking or was addicted to drugs. Try not to duplicate if possible, and give a little bit of information about how big a boozer or a drug-fiend they were.

I'll start:

Dylan Thomas. He seems to have died of a severe case of alcoholism.

[LostPrincess13]

Edgar Allan Poe. His drinking caused him job appointments, engagements, were the source of marital problems and eventually became the possible cause of his death.

[Delta40]

Oscar Wilde
"never stopped smoking opium-tainted Egyptian cigarettes. A terrible absinthe-drinker, through which he got his visions and desires"

[djy78usa]

Hemmingway's alcoholism probably played a major role in his suicide. His portrait can still be found on signs and advertisements for two bars in Key West; Sloppy Joe's and Captain Tony's (the original Sloppy Joe's).

[Dark Muse]

Samuel Taylor Coleridge started taking opium as a medication, as was common in his day. But he became addicted to it out of fascination of the effects the dreams had upon him when under the influence of the drug. His use of Opium cost him his friendhip with Wordsworth along with other friends and family

[Tallon]

Hemmingway's alcoholism probably played a major role in his suicide. His portrait can still be found on signs and advertisements for two bars in Key West; Sloppy Joe's and Captain Tony's (the original Sloppy Joe's).

Hemingway had his own daiquiri, the Papa Doble, which i think you can still order in Sloppy Joe's Key West. I think it's like a normal daiquiri but with more rum in it :D

[Silas Thorne]

Thomas De Quincey, who wrote 'Confessions of an English Opium Eater', had an addiction to opium for most of his life.

[The Atheist]

Dylan Thomas. He seems to have died of a severe case of alcoholism.

Ah, poor old Dylan - a lifelong alcoholic from a very early age.

F Scott Fitzgerald, a binge-drinking alkie.

And a word for a Kiwi who I'm sure nobody else will mention, A K Grant (http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/grantak.html), a great satirist and novelist whose alcoholism probably caused the fatal crash which killed him and his wife.

[sixsmith]

Cheever didn't mind a drink though i believe he cleaned up later on in life.

[Tallon]

"I've had 18 straight whiskies......I think that's the record." The last words of Dylan Thomas always amuse me.

[Hank Stamper]

Jack Kerouac - died at 47 .. too much booze... think it was internal bleeding that killed him brought on by an alcohol related disease

Hunter S Thompson ... although it was probably the drink and drugs that actually kept him going

[kelby_lake]

Eugene O'Neill (amongst other problems)

Seems that in American plays most of the characters are alcoholic

[Jeremiah Jazzz]

James Joyce, everyone's favorite Irish booze hound.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

How about Brendan Behan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Behan), with his notorious drinking habits? He described himself as "a drinker with a writing problem" and claimed "I only drink on two occasions-when I'm thirsty and when I'm not") His fame grew along with his alcohol consumption, resulting in numerous drunken public appearances, both on stage and on television. This did little to improve his health, and diabetic comas and seizures befell him regularly.

He once wrote: "An Anglo-Irishman only works at riding horses, drinking whisky and reading double-meaning books in Irish at Trinity College".

/Claes

[Thespian1975]

Stephen King. Read "On Writing" where he tells of his cocaine and drink problems almost costing him his marriage.

[JBI]

Katherine Mansfield

[Jozanny]

Do cigarette smokers count? There is a mild vogue among academic reviewers to focus on writers who refuse to give up nicotine, and died completing their last works in a haze of tobacco. I am thinking of my back issues of The Boston Review, and if Joey did not destroy them all--the cat loves shredding paper, to my misery, and damaged 20 years worth of my research articles, and I pamper the animal instead of wringing its neck--:brickwall

but if the review of the guy I'm thinking of is intact, I'll try to dig it up in an off moment.

I smoke, and don't think I'll quit, but I am trying to cut down to secure my legacy. It will no doubt be a small one, :lol:, but I am working on a backlash article against the anti-smoking liberals, more just for money than not, but there is a streak in me that hates the health police.

[Hank Stamper]

I smoke, and don't think I'll quit, but I am trying to cut down to secure my legacy. It will no doubt be a small one, :lol:, but I am working on a backlash article against the anti-smoking liberals, more just for money than not, but there is a streak in me that hates the health police.

the good old nanny state... i would rather not be told what i can and can't do... however i do prefer not having to inhale other people's second hand smoke! not sure if that makes me an anti-smoking liberal or not though (i am an ex-smoker so i suppose that makes me the worst kind)... but there is a streak in me that finds it hilarious watching smokers having to huddle outside in the cold...

[Taliesin]

Verlaine and Rimbaud had quite the theme with hashish and absinthe.


Also I would note Balzac who drank enormous amounts of coffee.

[JBI]

Just so you know - recently they have developed smokeless cigarette devices in England and elsewhere as a means of bypassing the indoor smoking bans. No tobacco, no smoke, but apparently a feeling resembling smoking, and a delivery of the much sought after nicotine.

[Emil Miller]

Do cigarette smokers count? There is a mild vogue among academic reviewers to focus on writers who refuse to give up nicotine, and died completing their last works in a haze of tobacco. I am thinking of my back issues of The Boston Review, and if Joey did not destroy them all--the cat loves shredding paper, to my misery, and damaged 20 years worth of my research articles, and I pamper the animal instead of wringing its neck--:brickwall

but if the review of the guy I'm thinking of is intact, I'll try to dig it up in an off moment.

I smoke, and don't think I'll quit, but I am trying to cut down to secure my legacy. It will no doubt be a small one, :lol:, but I am working on a backlash article against the anti-smoking liberals, more just for money than not, but there is a streak in me that hates the health police.

You have my sympathy over your cat's propensity for paper chewing, I have the same problem but if I express disaproval of her actions, she has only to look at me with those eyes and I become putty in her paws.
As for nicotine addiction, I don't smoke and haven't done for twenty years but I know what you mean about the health police. Since smoking was banned in public places across Europe. Paris, without its Gauloises, has become, in atmosphere, much more like Berlin or London; but then that's what the Euro politicians want anyway.

[Silas Thorne]

Since smoking was banned in public places across Europe. Paris, without its Gauloises, has become, in atmosphere, much more like Berlin or London; but then that's what the Euro politicians want anyway.

People can smoke outside in public places though, right? At least, I hope so. If not, I think the writers of Judge Dredd got it right.

One more addition:
John Wilmott, Earl of Rochester- I think he was rather a heavy drinker, as we can see from some of his outrageous and terrible exploits after dark.

[Jozanny]

Paris, without its Gauloises, has become, in atmosphere, much more like Berlin or London; but then that's what the Euro politicians want anyway.

Mmm, if I can get to Europe before I run out of money, I will have to get some of those!;) Thanks Brian.

I think Flann O'Brien was an alcoholic, but that might be a cultural requirement of 20th century Ireland.:D

[Emil Miller]

Mmm, if I can get to Europe before I run out of money, I will have to get some of those!;) Thanks Brian.

I think Flann O'Brien was an alcoholic, but that might be a cultural requirement of 20th century Ireland.:D

If you can't get Gauloises try Gitanes ,they both taste like horse dung but smell like Eau de Cologne.

[Jozanny]

Just so you know - recently they have developed smokeless cigarette devices in England and elsewhere as a means of bypassing the indoor smoking bans. No tobacco, no smoke, but apparently a feeling resembling smoking, and a delivery of the much sought after nicotine.

Well JBI, you may have solved my public housing guilt problem. I just ordered the Aero, from Woodleaf corporation, and if it works for me (the patch does not) then I can give up tobacco, but I have to see. I ordered two packs and just called my ex to tell him the favor you might have done me. I don't quite get the FAQ about cutting the tube, but I am sure it will be obvious when it gets here:p.

Whatever the detractions, you know, this forum community really isn't so bad to hang out in!

[Tallon]

Kingsley Amis. The Old Devils is a good book about drinking.

[Akeldama]

If we're counting tobacco, Vonnegut is quoted as saying: "Let us be perfectly frank. For practically everybody, the end of the world can't come soon enough. [Cigarettes are] a fairly sure, fairly honorable form of suicide." He smoked unfiltered Pall Malls since the age of fourteen.

[mollie]

Hunter S. Thompson?

[Shalot]

the good old nanny state... i would rather not be told what i can and can't do... however i do prefer not having to inhale other people's second hand smoke! not sure if that makes me an anti-smoking liberal or not though (i am an ex-smoker so i suppose that makes me the worst kind)... but there is a streak in me that finds it hilarious watching smokers having to huddle outside in the cold...


I'm right with you on almost every point there. I hate the smell of it, but I used to smoke. It took me three tries to quit (so far...I'm on my 3rd go round of being an ex-smoker) and I too enjoy watching smokers huddle outside in the cold, but I think mine has more to do with my hatred of an ex-coworker who smokes. She also spewed all this anti-liberal stuff all the time about the no-smoking laws and freedom...

Me personally, I hate being told what I can and can't do, but cigarettes are just so gross that I almost don't care that they've banned smoking indoors all over my state. If they developed a cigarette that didn't smell like funk, I might take up smoking again.

Now, if they take away my right to bear arms, we might have problem, but they can take away my right to smoke cigarettes as they're manufactured today...

oh, and sorry, I have nothing to add to the thread topic. If I can think of anyone else, I'll get back to it.

[Silas Thorne]

Some artists:

The painter Jackson Pollock had alcoholism. Jean-Michel Basquiat had an addiction to drugs, and died while speed-balling.

[Haven]

Hunter S. Thompson?

He probably should have died from drugs... god bless him :) but no, he shot himself. Mind you, might have been drug induced psychosis... so, omg !! Yes, we have another category for death my drink and drugs :lol::D

Ok my choice for adding to the headcount is William Burroughs ... but like Mollie I have a question mark ... I know [think?] he killed his wife Jane when playing William Tell.. the apple was on her head... he was definitely a junkie and even wrote the book :)... but maybe he lived to a ripe old age.. but I'm betting 'death by drugs' :p May you rest in peace Mr Burroughs.

[Silas Thorne]

I never actually said they had to die from their problem ;)

[PabloQ]

I think Tennessee Williams was thrown off a movie set because he couldn't show up sober. I might have him confused with someone else, but I think it was TW.

[Pendragon]

Since we are counting smoking, Twain was addicted to cigars...and whiskey :lol:

[Pendragon]

And then there is suicide, Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, Solomon Kane, King Kull, etc. Big contributer to his friend HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mystos. Started writing at 15, shot himself shortly after his 30th birthday, despondent over his dying mother...

[Pendragon]

Oops, double post. Well how about Virgina Wolfe and Sylvia Plath?

[Silas Thorne]

And then there is suicide, Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, Solomon Kane, King Kull, etc. Big contributer to his friend HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mystos. Started writing at 15, shot himself shortly after his 30th birthday, despondent over his dying mother...

Interesting news, in a terrible and depressing way.

Suicide is hardly an addiction though. ;) It is only possible to do it once.

[JacobF]

Truman Capote (surprised no one mentioned him yet) became an alcoholic after being shunned from the upper-class scene for putting his friends' secrets in one of his novels without their permission. Also, the experience he had while working on In Cold Blood probably contributed to it.