Leif Garrett

Overview

Born
November 8, 1961 · Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth name
Leif Per Nervik
Height
6′ (1.83 m)

Biography

Family

Parents
Relatives

Trademarks

(as a teenager) Long hair

Trivia

He was sued by a former friend, Roland Winkler, for a November 1979 accident in which Garrett was driving and the car left the road and plunged 80 feet down a hillside. Winkler was paralyzed, and a judgment of $7.1 million was eventually awarded. The two were reunited 20 years later as part of a TV program about Garrett's life and career, and Garrett learned that Winkler, whom he hadn't seen since 1980, had forgiven him long ago--and that Garrett's actions following the accident had actually saved his life.
He had publicly promised to look after Roland Winkler financially after the car crash, but Winkler's parents sued Garrett in January 1980. The case was eventually settled in December 1984. Winkler died on 25 May 2017 at age 57.
In an interview for the 2008 A&E "Biography" show about him, he said he did not originally aspire to a singing career. He had never been a singer and considered himself an actor, but when he achieved teen-idol status, his handlers saw a chance to make big money and told him that he was now a singer. He was told what to sing without regard for his musical preferences, so he wasn't happy with his music career. Dragged around the world on concert tours at 15 by his managers without his family and spending most of his time in hotel rooms, he felt isolated and extremely lonely. To relieve his loneliness, he began tagging along behind his managers to the clubs at night; thus began his descent into alcohol and drug abuse. His return to music in the late 1990s reflected his real musical preferences and truly fueled his creative passions.
Began dating Justine Bateman in January 1988.
Filed for bankruptcy in October 2001. According to court documents, he had only $350 and was living off a monthly $1,000 allowance from his mother.

Quotes

If there is anything I would tell anybody in this profession, it is never believe your own press.
Do not believe your own publicity. Sussing out who your real friends are is full-time work. Every scum bag, every drug dealer, every chicken hawk wants a piece of you. When you've got that sort of power at that young age, and everything at your doorstep, you put out that bad boy image. At that age, testosterone, hormones, all of the money, you see what else you can get away with ... You can't stop. You want to continue to taste, and sometimes that's crazy, stupid things.
I think part of my drug use was that I didn't want to get older. I wanted to stay that rebellious 18-year-old, just thinking I was superman or, you know, indestructible. But things catch up to you. Fame is a drug not only to oneself but to others as well.
My mom didn't understand, you know. It was partially her fault. You don't allow a 14 or 15-year-old kid to go on the road without parental guidance. The bartenders knew who I was, knew how old I was, but no one said no.
My career ended musically, as far as the producers were concerned, when the five-year contract was over and I was, like, 21 or 22, whereas I was trying to let them in on my vision to grow. In the teen idol world, the longest a teen idol can last - unless they change and become an adult with their music - is five years. You go from 16 to maybe 21, and then by 21 you're already having sex ... and that changes your whole world. Your music changes, the things you like change. One thing is puppy love; the next thing is lust. In the teen idol world, it's puppy love. New wave music was happening. Disco wasn't going to last, first of all, and that sort of like puppy-love style wasn't going to last either. Like I said, you grow up and start having sex. Your tastes change. You become more mature ... They just didn't see it, and my contract was up and I said, "See you later."