# Drunk on film. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905 "2004-08-02T02:19:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/1 "2004-08-02T02:19:26Z")
In this thread we talk about, and list people who were drunk, incedentally, or deliberately (needed for the part) on TV, film, stage, whatever. I remember oliver reed staggering, rat-arsed onto Parkinson. And I just watched des-oconnor make and drink egg-nogg (which I understand is alcoholic?) on ‘live’ (what they paradoxically call “recorded live”) tv. So what other notable occurences of intoxication on screen (or radio even) can you list? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/2 "2004-08-02T02:28:22Z")
There’s always Howard Cosell and Don Merideth on _Monday Night Football_. Don’t know if Gifford was drunk too, but I figure _somebody_ had to keep track of what was happening on the field! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/3 "2004-08-02T02:40:05Z")
He wasn’t an actor, but the late Sir John Kerr, a previous Governor-General of Australia (i.e. the Queen’s vice-regal representative) made a notorious and widely-criticised official appearance at the 1977 Melbourne Cup while drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/4 "2004-08-02T02:47:49Z")
[Jessica Savitch](http://www.findadeath.com/Decesed/s/Jessica%20Savitch/jessica_savitch.htm) was a national news anchor who gave a news update while clearly sloshed in the late '70’s. She died in a car accident a few weeks later. ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/5 "2004-08-02T02:56:01Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > He wasn’t an actor, but the late Sir John Kerr, a previous Governor-General of Australia (i.e. the Queen’s vice-regal representative) made a notorious and widely-criticised official appearance at the 1977 Melbourne Cup while drunk. …whereas when he fired Whitlam he was merely drunk with power. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/6 "2004-08-02T03:08:03Z")
Craig Charles and Robert Llewellyn helped out with a subscription drive/_Red Dwarf_ marathon on PBS in the early nineties. They were a few hours late showing up, and when they _did_ show up it was clear that the hold up was an extended pub crawl. They were positively paralytic, but still managed to be hilarious, somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/7 "2004-08-02T03:08:30Z")
There were a number of alcohol-fueled performances on SNL, especially in its earlier seasons. Broderick Crawford was quite stewed. John Belushi was frequently drunk, most notably on the first Kate Jackson-hosted ep. There was a notorious _Tonight Show_ with Johnny Carson, where a very drunk Doc Severinson got a few things off his chest, to his eventual chagrin. ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/8 "2004-08-02T03:15:35Z")
According to the official documentary about _Apocalypse Now_, Martin Sheen was seriously tanked for his character’s meltdown scene in the Saigon hotel room. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/9 "2004-08-02T03:19:32Z")
The late great Harry Carey, Cubs baseball announcer, was regularly sloshed quite early on in the game. In later years, when it got too hard on him, he cut back so he sometimes wouldn’t start slurring until the 7th inning. His son Skip (Atlanta Braves) also had an on-air drinking problem for many years but appears to have been clean for a while. Anyone know what the status of grandson Chip (also Cubs) is? One would have to assume that just being on a super-station doesn’t make one a drunk, so the number of lesser known problem announcers is generally high. It might be easier to list ones that have never appeared on-air drunk. The Yankees trio from the 80s: Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer and Bill White, generally didn’t seem drunk to me. Rizzuto is just that way all the time. Also, Tim McGarver isn’t a drunk, just a clueless twit. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/10 "2004-08-02T03:28:30Z")
The late Sam Phillips (the music producer who first recorded Elvis Presley) appeared on _Late Night with David Letterman_ sometime in the mid-late 1980s _many_ sheets to the wind. Dave gradually realized how incoherent he was. Paul Shaffer came and sat next to him. It was pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/11 "2004-08-02T03:46:04Z")
> [@Murcielago](#): > > According to the official documentary about _Apocalypse Now_, Martin Sheen was seriously tanked for his character’s meltdown scene in the Saigon hotel room. I was going to say that one. What struck me about _Hearts of Darkness_ was the fact that everything that was happening to the characters on a metaphorical level in the movie seemed to be happening on a literal level to the cast and crew involved in its production. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@li\_l\_Dickie\_Dirtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/li_l_Dickie_Dirtz)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/12 "2004-08-02T04:13:20Z")
This perhaps doesn’t fit exactly the OP’s intention, but the cast of “Cheers” was _very_ drunk when they appeared on The Tonight Show the night of the series finale. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/13 "2004-08-02T04:55:32Z")
There was Joe Namath’s impressive on-the-field commentary a few months back. I also remember an episode of Letterman where they were doing the show from a college campus in Boston. Dana Carvey was one of the guests and was very clearly blitzed. Dave did not look happy. There was also a late-night talk show in Japan where the studio setting was a bar (“XXXXX’s Bar” was the name, but I can’t remember now what the name of the host was). A bunch of celebrities would come on and just shoot the breeze, but the host/bartender would be serving them actual drinks as they talked. By the end of the show, most of them would be pretty well ripped. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/14 "2004-08-02T05:14:50Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#): > > [Jessica Savitch](http://www.findadeath.com/Decesed/s/Jessica%20Savitch/jessica_savitch.htm) was a national news anchor who gave a news update while clearly sloshed in the late '70’s. She died in a car accident a few weeks later. Uh, no. Jessica infamously did an NBC newsbreak while under the influence of cocaine (her intoxicant of choice) in summer of 1982. She was ousted from all of her anchor time on the network shortly thereafter (replaced mainly by Connie Chung) and died in October of 1983 – as per the very site you linked to. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/15 "2004-08-02T07:45:49Z")
I understand that during the initiation scene in _Animal House_ (where they’re all singing “Louie Louie”) everybody was sloshed due to a combination of real beer and multiple takes. This one’s before my time, but my husband tells me that Dean Martin was always drunk during his variety show. He certainly looks it in those ads they’ve been running for the Dean Martin DVDs. And “rat-arsed” is my new favorite word. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/16 "2004-08-02T08:05:12Z")
James Dean retired to his trailer and got ahold of some wine, then went to the set and filmed his big scene in the police station. He’s supposed to have cracked a bone in his hand from slamming hsi fist on the desk. ---
**Author:** ![BooBoo316](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@BooBoo316](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BooBoo316)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/17 "2004-08-02T10:41:08Z")
Let us not forget Robert Shaw from _Jaws_. His problem with alcohol was almost as big a problem on set as the mechanical shark. ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/18 "2004-08-02T10:52:44Z")
The former Russian president Boris Yeltsin made numerous televised appearances bolstered by his penchant for vodka. > [@](#): > > In a televised address Friday, Yeltsin slurred through his four minute rambling, and at times incoherent statements. > “I told NATO, the Americans, the Germans: Don’t push us towards military action. > **(snip)** > War is difficult on everyone involved. And worst of all, war means a severe shortage of liquor and pornography.” Found on [http://www.dechter.com/april299.html](http://www.dechter.com/april299.html) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/19 "2004-08-02T10:59:05Z")
Dorothy Kilgallen was rumored to be intoxicated on **What’s my Line**. The [episode](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-5501/epid-98005) which aired the night of her death shows a very incoherent Kilgallen. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905/20 "2004-08-02T11:45:05Z")
I saw a documentary about _The Mamas and the Papas_. Toward the end was footage of the group together again on what I believe was Denny Doherty’s TV show. John Phillips was an incoherent gibbering fool and no-one seemed to know what to do. Michelle, his long estranged wife who had documented his ill treatment of her, put her hand on his arm and said a few words to him and calmed him down. She stayed in close physical contact so that he shut up. I thought it was a very cool act. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-on-film/257905.md?page=2)