He was the boy every girl swooned over and every teen idolized in the ’80s — the kind of face that seemed to belong on posters, lunchboxes, and magazine covers.See More…
With tousled dark hair, a disarming smile, and a quiet charm, he made awkward high school crushes feel personal.
But behind the perfectly framed photos and the heartthrob persona, a darker story was unfolding.
Totally unprepared for the stardom
Known for iconic 1980s films like St. Elmo’s Fire, Pretty in Pink, Mannequin (1987), and later Weekend at Bernie’s, this actor quickly became one of Hollywood’s most recognizable young stars.
But he was born just a regular kid in 1962, in Westfield, New Jersey, the third of four boys. His mother worked at a newspaper, and his father dealt in investments and stocks – a typical, hardworking family far removed from the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown.
I was totally unprepared for any kind of success when I was a young person. I didn’t know anyone who was successful in that way in show business, or famous,” he once shared. “I also temperamentally wasn’t particularly suited for it. Attention made me recoil.”
During his high school years, it became clear that this future star had a strong passion for performing. But his school years weren’t exactly smooth sailing.
“I just felt sort of very lonely at school. I just didn’t feel like I belonged there,” he once said.
After graduating, he enrolled at NYU to study acting, though he was expelled after two years.
“I didn’t really go [to class],” as he later put it.
In bed with Jacqueline Bisset
Given that he’d just been kicked out of school, nothing could have prepared the young, aspiring actor for how quickly he would break into the movie business. Just a few weeks after being unceremoniously dismissed, he decided to respond to an “open call” in the newspaper for a role in Class, which starred Jacqueline Bisset.
“I waited for hours with 500 other kids and they call me back. It was so out of the blue. One week I was in school and the next week I’m in bed with Jacqueline Bisset. I thought, ’I’m doing something right here,’” he recalled.
After playing Jonathan in Class, where he famously romanced his prep school roommate’s mother (Jacqueline Bisset) the New Jersey-born actor suddenly became the talk of the town.
“Then [NYU] offered that I come back, pay the tuition and I could use [the movie] as independent study. I told them to go f*** themselves.”
A few years later, he hit the big time with St. Elmo’s Fire in 1985. Despite harsh reviews, the film was a massive hit and starred a powerhouse cast including Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, and Demi Moore
Our star was undeniably a box-office draw, but his reputation took a hit from being lumped together with other young actors — some of questionable talent and notorious for their arrogance and partying. They were dubbed the “Brat Pack.”
By 1986, he had fully cemented his place as a teen heartthrob. Acting alongside Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink, he became known for his quiet charm and sensitive, understated presence that won over audiences everywhere.
And now maybe you can guess who we’re talking about? That’s right, none other than Andrew McCarthy!
Battling a much tougher struggle
In his memoir, Brat: An 80s Story, Andrew opens a window into the glamorous Hollywood whirlwind he was suddenly thrown into. Stays at the Chateau Marmont and wild parties at Sammy Davis Jr.’s house became part of the routine. At one hotel bash, he noticed a “cute young woman with a pixie haircut.”
The young actor tried to strike up a conversation, but “Courteney Cox was having none of me,” he wrote.
Today, Andrew McCarthy is recognized as a respected actor and a lasting icon of his generation — ranked No. 40 on VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest Teen Stars of All Time. Beyond acting, he has also made a name for himself as a director, notably for his work on Orange Is the New Black.
But when he burst onto the scene in the ’80s, the rising star was secretly battling a much tougher struggle. Neither his co-stars, the press, nor even he himself fully realized he was sliding into alcoholism. He’d been smoking weed since high school and drinking socially, but eventually, things spiraled out of control.
”Like in Pretty in Pink for example, people said, ”Oh, he’s so sensitive and lovely in that movie. I was so hungover for that whole movie… I’m thinking, ’ God, I got a headache. I am just dying here. I got to go lay down’. But on film I came across a certain way,” Andrew told ABC’s 20/20 in 2004.
He has also shared why alcohol became such an important crutch for him.
”If I was frightened, it gave me good Dutch courage,” McCarthy admitted. ”I felt confident and sexy and in charge and in control and powerful — none of those things I felt in my life.”
The turning point
But in 1989, he made a turning point in his life. The star quitted drinking cold turkey just before shooting the comedy Weekend at Bernie’s. To stay sober, he pulled back completely from his social life.That wasn’t really a huge problem for McCarthy, who considers himself an introvert.
”I’m very comfortable being alone and I’ve always been comfortable being alone,” he said in 2020. “I find that people go to great lengths to avoid being alone and they get themselves into a lot of trouble. I find that a lot of unhappiness is from trying not to be alone.”
However, the temptation for alcohol crept back while filming Jours tranquilles à Clichy, when a co-star casually offered him a beer. As he lifted the can, his hands started shaking, a clear warning that he was on the edge of a dangerous slide.
What followed were three years he would later call “lost and painful.” One morning, violently hungover and wracked with convulsions, he collapsed on the bathroom floor, sobbing over the state his life had reached.
Leave a Reply