Former Teen Idol Garrett Charged With Heroin Possession [Yikes! See past/present photos of Leif!]

LA Times ^ | Richard Winton, Times Staff Writer

[summer]

PAST/Leif Garret, Teen Idol, 1970's


PRESENT/Leif Garrett, LA County Sherriff's Dept. 2006

Seventies teen idol Leif Garrett was charged this morning with possession of heroin after his arrest in the Pershing Square subway station over the weekend.

Garrett was due to appear in Los Angeles County Superior Court later today. If convicted, he would be eligible for a diversion program rather than a prison sentence, officials said.

Garrett, 44, was being held without bail because he was also detained on a bench warrant for allegedly violating the terms of his probation for a previous offense, Los Angeles County sheriff's and district attorney's officials said.

The musician-actor, who has a history of drug issues dating from the 1970s, pleaded guilty in March to attempted possession of cocaine-based narcotics and was placed on probation, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney's office, on Tuesday....

[summer]

Drug addiction is really a tragedy. I hope he someday sees the damage he's done to himself in these two or three decades he's been on drugs!

[summer]

PS Someone get this guy a copy of James Frey's book, A Million Little Lies (oops, I meant: A Million Little Pieces).

[Tijeras_Slim]

He's in better shape than his career.

[summer]

It's very sad how drugs can take one's life away, even though the person is still alive.

[Williams]

It's real important that our kids learn fame and even fortune do not equal happiness. The papers are full of famous/rich drug addicts and suicides. BTW I don't remember Leif, I guess he wasn't my idol.

[Clemenza]

I WAS MADE FOR SHOOTING! I...WAS MADE FOR TWEAKING!

[Borges]

The latter face was not made for dancin'.

[Patrick1]

He should have quit after his brilliant performance as Buford Pusser's son in Walking Tall.

[Tevin]

He looks better in the second picture.

[Borges]

Classy pose.

[Emmett McCarthy]

Yeah, and he looks even worse than Glen Campbell's arrest photo, although not as bad as Nick Nolte's.

[pollyannaish]

How sad. I had a little tiny crush on him when I was a preteen.

I hope he can get cleaned up.

[summer]

It's real important that our kids learn fame and even fortune do not equal happiness

Welll, that's one tough lesson to teach kids these days, especially when you've got a tv show like American Idol ranked #1 and the entire country trying to audition to have their shot at fame and fortune. But, you're right, it doesn't mean squat unless you've also got a foundation of beliefs that will carry through both the ups and downs. Apparently, Leif didn't have that.

[USS Alaska]

We saw him, what does she look like today? Oh, nevermind.

[summer]

Good grief; unless he gets his act together, it seems his best days are only a memory!

[Shalom Israel]

Isn't it, though? It takes me all the way back to the 1970s--this pic is right at home in that decade.

Sheridan's attire aside, though, she looks way better in this picture than she does today. The plastic surgery was a big mistake. For the record, though, she's about 15 in that picture.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Wonder how long it will take the anti-wod crowd to show up to defend drug usage?

[Bullitt]

He will have his own reality show within 6 months and be on top of the VH1/MTV world.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Not surprising. The 70s really was a decadent decade. Everybody and their mommas were coked & sexed up.