Corey Feldman Biography

Corey Scott Feldman was the second of five children. His mother Sheila was a cocktail waitress, who once took a turn as a Playboy bunny and his father Bob a producer and musician.

Following in their parent's footsteps, the theme in the Feldman family seemed to be fame and entertainment, and Feldman's sister Mindy had the honour of being the youngest member of the Mickey Mouse Club in the 1970s at age six.

It wasn't long before Feldman followed in his big sister's footsteps and, by the mere age of three, he was appearing in an advert for the McDonald's food chain. In no time, the offers came flooding in for work and Corey was soon the main breadwinner in the family, before reaching puberty!

A turn in the short-lived TV series 'The Bad News Bears' (1979-80) helped propel his career further and in the same year the series was coming to an end, Feldman earned his first film role in 'Time After Time'. Big screen hits would follow in the form of 'Gremlins' (1984), 'The Goonies' (1985) - thanks to Steven Spielberg being so impressed by Feldman's turn in 'Friday 13th: Final Chapter' (1984) - and in 'Stand By Me' (1986).

Meeting Corey Haim on the set of 'The Lost Boys' in 1987 would ignite a partnership that would see the pair dubbed 'the two Coreys' and secure an acting friendship that led to the duo starring in several films together, including 'Dream a Little Dream' in 1989.

The beginning of a new decade spelled a different kind of career high for Feldman when his private battle with drugs became public knowledge, following the end of a brief relationship with actress Drew Barrymore. In March 1990, he was arrested while driving in a dubious area of Los Angeles and was found to have heroin and cocaine on his person.

Eager to clean up his act, Feldman went straight into rehab and won a community service spell for his arrest rather than imprisonment.

By 1992, he was working again, having convinced Hollywood of his rehabilitation. He married actress Vanessa Marcil that year, only to divorce soon after in 1993. Marcil is said to be so embarrassed by their brief relationship that she denies ever marrying Feldman.

Feldman was determined to fight back from the negative press surrounding his drugs controversy and made an effort to re-establish his career by taking parts in small films and even releasing a music album in 1993 called 'Love Left'. Unfortunately, the album didn't sell very well, although it did feature a moderately successful single 'Honesty'.

An on-screen reconciliation with Corey Haim in 1992's 'Blown Away' did not reach the same level of enthusiasm that the pair once would have received, but Feldman continued to work steadily and, by the late 1990s, he had released a second album 'Still Searching for Soul' with his band, Corey Feldman's Truth Movement.

Despite his lack of success in the music world, Feldman persisted and he released 'Former Child Star' in 2002, which was also a critical and commercial failure.

In the same year, after touring with the album, Feldman appeared in the reality show, 'The Surreal Life'. The concept of the programme involved a number of celebrities living together in a Big Brother-esque environment. The show did little to invigorate Feldman's fan base due to the general consensus that he seemed to moan and whine in diva fashion the entire time. In the final episode of the show, he was married to his then fiance Susi Sprague by another star-from-the-past, rapper MC Hammer. The couple’s son Zen was born in August 2004. It was announced in 2011 that Sprague has filed for divorce from Feldman.

In 2005, Feldman made his stage debut in the off-Broadway play Fatal Attraction, a parody of the seminal 1987 film classic. The play was well-received by critics and led to a call from the A&E network about a new TV show.

He was also asked to testify against Michael Jackson in his child molestation case, as he was accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy. The pair had developed a friendship after Feldman appeared in 'Gremlins', 'The Goonies' and 'Stand By Me'. He claimed that Jackson helped lots of children by befriending and mentoring them but did more harm than good by dropping kids when he grew bored.

At the time, Feldman said: "He did real damage in my overall life. I was a 12-year-old boy who was hurt by his family and ignored by people at school. Michael would sit and talk to me for hours and he would listen. Then he would get bored."

Michael was found innocent and when he died in 2009, Feldman dedicated a Los Angeles concert with his band Truth Movement to the singer expressing his grief.

Back on form with old chum Corey Haim, ‘The Two Coreys’ aired in 2007 under the premise of both Corey’s playing fictional versions of themselves. The show went down well in the states and production started on a second season early in 2008.

In 2008, both Corey's appeared in 'Lost Boys: The Tribe', with Feldman reprising his role as vampire Edgar Frog. He also starred in 'Lucky Fritz' and 'Operation Belvis Bash'.

On 10 March 2010, Corey Haim died at the age of 38, which deeply affected Feldman on both a professional and personal level. He produced and starred in 'Lost Boys: The Thirst', which was a DVD release later that year.

In 2011, he cameoed in Katy Perry's music video for 'Last Friday Night' and in 2012, he will be appearing in three films including 'Zombex', 'Six Degrees of Hell' and 'The Zombie King'.

Throughout Feldman's life and career, he has experienced the atypical Hollywood peaks and troughs, but can be acknowledged as bouncing back from it all with a resilience that many other stars could learn a thing or two from. Expect to see him on TV, the big screen or even just your local DVD shelf for a long while to come.