Leif Garrett

For five years in the 1970s, actor and singer Leif Garrett stood astride the world as one of the most popular talents in the teen entertainment business. A handsome young man with a passable singing voice and the right combination of confidence and ability on camera that made him desirable to millions of girls, Garrett starred in or guested on such popular series as "Family" (ABC, 1976-1980) and TV movies like "Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion" (NBC, 1978) before embarking on a career as a pop singer. After scoring hits with sugary renditions of 1960s tunes like "Surfin' USA," he released a rock album which failed to connect with fans; his acting career soon collapsed, and he sunk into drug addiction and obscurity. Attempts to revive his career throughout the 1980s and 1990s were torpedoed by recurrent arrests for drug abuse, which reduced his once golden status to yet another child actor-turned-cautionary tale.