Actors - Leif Garrett

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	Actors - Leif Garrett

Leif Garrett (born November 8, 1961) is an American singer and actor who for a short time during the 1970s was a teen idol. He was born Leif Per Nervik in Hollywood, California, and is of Norwegian descent. Son of an aspiring actress, Garrett made his acting debut in the film Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice at age five. He also starred with his sister Dawn Lyn in all three Walking Tall
movies. Garrett went on to star in other movies, and made special guest star appearances in television shows. In autumn 1976, Garrett signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records, with which he recorded his first album, Leif Garrett, released in 1977. In mid-1978 he signed with Scotti Bros for Feel the Need. He had two singles reach the US Top 40, his version of The Beach Boys "Surfin' USA" in 1977 and his biggest success, "I Was Made For Dancing" the following year.

He continued to record for several years, but with lesser success. Other Scotti Bros albums include Same Goes For You (1979) Can't Explain (1980) and My Movie of You (1981). With Matt Dillon, he starred in the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film The Outsiders. In 1979, three days before his 18th birthday, Garrett was involved in an automobile accident that paralyzed his best friend, Roland Winkler, who was his passenger. It has since been alleged that both were drinking. Shortly after the accident, a shattered, guilt-plagued Garrett publicly stated that he would look after Winkler (who was already a quadriplegic), but reneged on his promise, resulting in a complete and total abandonment of his friend. Years later, the Winkler family filed a $25 million negligence lawsuit against Garrett, despite the fact that he was "being sued for money I didn't have." The suit was eventually settled out of court, resulting in a $7.1 million judgment that left the two completely estranged. Afterwards, his career quickly began to collapse. His trademark hair receded, his TV work dried up and his music recording was all but over. In later years, Garrett made headlines for heroin abuse, cocaine possession, and a stay in a rehabilitation center. He continued to appear in movies throughout the 1980s with minor success. In 1995, he appeared in the low-budget horror film Dominion. That same year he toured with The Melvins and sang "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on their album The Crybaby, his first music recording of the decade. On January 10, 1999, VH-1 aired an episode of the television series Behind The Music, which chronicled Leif's rise to fame and fall from grace and featured his televised emotionally painful reunion with Winkler. In that episode, Leif apologized to Winkler, who moments later had revealed to his old friend that he had long forgiven him and that Garrett's actions following the accident had actually saved his life. Since then the two have remained in touch. In 2003, Leif appeared as himself in the David Spade film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
. He was one of many child stars who were part of the closing song "Child Stars on Your Television" and co-wrote and sang "Former Child Star", another song on the songtrack. In a 2005 interview published on the website for the band Liberty n' Justice, Garett call his drug addiction the low point of his musical career, with his performance at the Houston Astrodome in front of 35,000 fans one of the high points. He also cited his title role in the made-for-television film Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion as a high point, at least in part because it won a Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. On January 14, 2006, Garrett was arrested on a Metro Red Line subway platform in downtown Los Angeles, California when it was allegedly discovered he didn't have a ticket. Sheriff's deputies said he was also suspected of carrying narcotics and he was charged with heroin possession. Garrett was held in jail without bail because he had violated his probation for a previous cocaine related offense in 2005 and a judge had already issued a bench warrant for his arrest in December. Officials said that if Garrett was convicted on this new charge, he would likely avoid a jail sentence because of a California law that sends some convicted drug users to treatment instead.

Discography

1977 - Leif Garrett
1978 - Feel the Need
1979 - Same Goes for You
1980 - Can't Explain
1981 - My Movie of You
1998 - The Leif Garrett Collection (Greatest Hits)

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Actors - Leif Garrett

Discography

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