Leif Garrett

Was sued by former friend for an 1979 accident in which Leif was driving and car left the road and plunged 80 ft. down a hillside. Friend was paralyzed, judgment of $7.1 million. (The two were reunited 20 years later, as part of a TV program about Garrett's life and career, and Garrett learned that his friend, whom he hadn't seen since that day, had long forgiven him - and that Garrett's actions following the accident had actually saved his life.)

In the mid-1990s, fellow singer-actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras remade Garrett's hit-single "I Was Made For Dancing" for her album "Gimme a Kiss"; subsequently, both the song and the record became huge hits in Japan.

Ranked #13 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 25 Greatest Teen Idols" (23 January 2005 issue).

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 to the clubs at night with his managers, and thus began his descent into alcohol and drug abuse. His return to music later in life reflected his real musical preferences and truly fueled his creative passions.