Corey Feldman

Corey Scott Feldman (born July 16, 1971, is an American actor, voice actor, and singer. He became well known during the 1980s, with roles as a youth in films such as Gremlins (1984), The Goonies (1985) and Stand by Me (1986). In 1987, Feldman starred in the horror-comedy film The Lost Boys with Corey Haim; they became known as "The Two Coreys" and went on to appear in other films together, including License to Drive (1988) and Dream a Little Dream (1989).

Early life

Feldman was born in Reseda, California, the son of a musician, Bob Feldman, and a cocktail waitress, Sheila Feldman.  Feldman was raised Jewish and also holds beliefs in the paranormal.

Career

Child actor

Feldman started his career at the age of three, appearing in a McDonald's commercial.  In his youth, he appeared in over 100 television commercials and on 50 television series, including The Bad News Bears, Mork & Mindy, Eight is Enough, One Day at a Time and Cheers. He was in the films Time After Time and Disney's The Fox and the Hound. In 1981, he appeared in NBC's musical comedy children's special How to Eat Like a Child alongside other future child stars Billy Jacoby and Georg Olden.

Teen years

Feldman was featured in several consecutive high-grossing movies in the mid-1980s. The movies included Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), Gremlins (1984), The Goonies (1985), and Stand By Me (1986), the latter alongside River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, and Jerry O'Connell.  In 1987, Feldman appeared with Corey Haim in The Lost Boys, in which he played Edgar Frog, a role he reprised in two sequels, Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008) and Lost Boys: The Thirst (2010). The Lost Boys marked the first onscreen pairing of Feldman and Haim, who became known as "The Two Coreys".  The pair went on to star in a string of films, including License to Drive (1988) and Dream a Little Dream (1989). Feldman also voiced the character of Donatello in the original live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

Career as an adult

After a public battle with drugs (which began shortly after filming concluded for The 'Burbs (1989)), Feldman fought to re-establish his life and career by working with youths, starring in several lesser-known films and branching out with an album entitled Love Left. He returned to the big screen with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III where he again did the voice of Donatello and starred in the Richard Donner/Robert Zemeckis/Joel Silver film Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood, opposite Dennis Miller, and Angie Everhart.

He continued working with his friend Corey Haim on independent films, including a sequel to their last mainstream film together, Dream a Little Dream 2. In 1996, Feldman directed his first and only motion picture, a slapstick comedy called Busted where Haim played a leading role. This was the last film that they did as the Two Coreys. (Haim died in 2010). In the late 1990s, Feldman starred in the CBS series Dweebs and then released his second album, Still Searching for Soul, with his band Corey Feldman's Truth Movement. In 1996, Feldman appeared alongside his former Stand By Me co-star Jerry O'Connell in the episode "Electric Twister Acid Test" of the Fox Network series Sliders.   In 1999, Feldman appeared in New Found Glory's "Hit or Miss" music video as Officer Corey Feldman.   In 1999, he made an appearance in the television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.

In 2002, Feldman released a solo album, Former Child Actor, and promoted it with a second US tour.  In 2003 he appeared in the first celebrity-driven reality series The Surreal Life on The WB.  On the show, he publicly married Susie Sprague.   He also made a cameo appearance in the film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star starring David Spade.  He appeared in the Moby music video "We Are All Made of Stars".  In 2004, Feldman made a cameo appearance in the independent sci-fi comedy Space Daze which was distributed by Troma Entertainment in 2005, and starred in the made-for-TV slasher crossover film Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys which aired December 18, 2004, on NBCUniversal's Syfy network. In 2005, Feldman made his stage debut in the positively reviewed off-Broadway play Fatal Attraction, a Greek Tragedy, a parody of the seminal 1987 film Fatal Attraction directed by Timothy Haskell.  Feldman played the lead character, named Michael Douglas. Feldman appeared in the theatrical release My Date with Drew and was the voice of "Sprx-77" in the Toon Disney/ABC Family series Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!.

In 2007, Feldman and Corey Haim began a scripted reality television show entitled The Two Coreys on the A&E Network.  Haim and Feldman began taping on December 4, 2006. The show premiered on July 29, 2007.  In the winter of 2007, Feldman's new film, Terror Inside, was released after the premiere of the A&E show. It was filmed in the Greater Orlando area by Minott Lenders, an independent film company based in Florida.   In January 2008, Feldman, his wife, and Haim started production on the second season of the television show The Two Coreys. Feldman was also an executive producer for both seasons.

In 2010, Feldman made an appearance in the music video for "1983" by Neon Trees.  He served as an official festival judge in May 2011 for the 4th annual Noor Iranian Film Festival in Los Angeles. Feldman also appeared in the music video for Katy Perry's 2011 single "Last Friday Night".  In summer 2011, Feldman started shooting for the horror film Six Degrees of Hell in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. The majority of the film was shot at the Hotel of Horror haunted attraction.

In January 2012, Feldman joined the British television show Dancing on Ice with American pair skater Brooke Castile, and was eliminated in the fourth week of the show.   Feldman appeared in an episode of the TV show Border Security: Canada's Front Line aired in September 2012; he was entering Canada at Vancouver International Airport to work on the USA Network series Psych. In April 2013, Feldman also appeared in the music video for Mac Miller's single "S.D.S.".  In October 2013, Feldman appeared in the the music video for "City of Angels" by Thirty Seconds to Mars.

On October 28, 2013, Feldman released his first memoir, Coreyography. The book details his early life as a child actor all the way up to the death of his best friend Corey Haim. It also discusses his struggles with addiction and as a victim of Hollywood child sexual abuse.  In January 2014, Feldman started hosting a show on Battlecam.com called Corey's Angels Talk Live.

In 2015, Feldman and his then-girlfriend, Courtney Anne Mitchell, appeared in episode 11 of the fourth season of the reality TV show Celebrity Wife Swap. His girlfriend swapped with actor/comedian Tommy Davidson's fiancée, Amanda.

In September 2016, Feldman made an appearance on the Today show to support his album Angelic 2 the Core, which sparked a backlash for its unusual nature.  Also in 2016, Feldman stated that he had created a "360 management development and production entity" known as Corey's Angels "to help girls who were kind of lost and needed help to find their way."

Feldman was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the third annual Young Entertainer Awards in April 2018.

Advocacy

Feldman contends that sex abuse of child actors is a widespread problem in show business.  On October 25, 2017, in response to the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations, Feldman started an Indiegogo campaign to finance a film about his life to expose the secret child sexual abuse that he claims is just as common in Hollywood as sexism and sexual assault against adults.  In March 2018, Feldman spoke at the New York State Capitol in Albany, New York, in support of the Child Victims Act, which would lengthen the statute of limitations for civil claims arising out of acts of child sex abuse and would create a one-year period in which sex abuse survivors could bring civil claims that are currently barred by the statute of limitations.

Feldman is a Democrat and an advocate for animal welfare and animal rights; he has adhered to a vegetarian diet since his youth. He appeared with his wife in a PETA ad campaign promoting vegetarianism. He was awarded the Paws of Fame Award by the Wildlife WayStation for his dedication to animal rights.

Personal life

Feldman stated that he began the "Emancipation Proclamation in Hollywood" at age 15, when he was granted emancipation from his parents. He stated that he was worth $1 million by age 15, and by the time the judge ordered the bank records to come forward, only $40,000 remained.

Feldman has spoken publicly about his struggles with drug addiction.

On March 28, 2018, Feldman received a small puncture wound from a man in a car and was briefly hospitalized.

Friendship with Michael Jackson

Feldman was close friends with Michael Jackson as a child and teenager. He later expressed frustration toward Jackson, claiming that he had done "real damage" to his childhood by befriending and then abandoning him. Feldman admitted that Jackson helped many children by becoming a friend and mentor, but that he did more harm than good by abandoning children when he grew bored with them.

In February 2005, Feldman was subpoenaed to testify against Jackson in the singer's child molestation trial (although he ultimately did not testify). Feldman said, "I started looking at each piece of information, and with that came this sickening realization that there have been many occurrences in my life and in my relationship to Michael that have created a question of doubt."  He added: "So I'm here to say I hope and I pray that these things never happened, and if they never happened, then there's some real sickness with a lot of people. But if they did happen, then there's a lot of sickness with one person. And that person needs to be punished." Although he was adamant that Jackson never touched him, Feldman recounted that when he was 13 or 14 years old, Jackson once showed him a book that was "focused on venereal diseases and the genitalia"; as an adult, Feldman saw this behavior as inappropriate.

When Jackson died in 2009, Feldman dedicated a Los Angeles hospital concert with his rock band, Truth Movement, to the singer.

In 2013, Feldman spoke out in defense of Jackson in the wake of Wade Robson's sexual molestation accusations.  He explicitly denied that Michael Jackson had molested children.  In his 2013 autobiography, Feldman claimed that his friendship with Jackson brought him back to normalcy and insisted that Jackson never once acted inappropriately toward him.  After new accusations against Jackson were raised in 2019, Feldman repeated that Jackson had never acted inappropriately towards him and called the documentary "one-sided".  Two days later, however, he changed his stance, saying he could "no longer defend" Jackson; Feldman added: "It comes to a point whereas an advocate for victims ... it becomes impossible for me to remain virtuous and not at least consider what's being said".

Relationships

Feldman was married to actress Vanessa Marcil from 1989 until 1993.

He met actress and model Susie Sprague in a nightclub in January 2002; they married on October 30 that year on the final episode of the first season of The Surreal Life. The ceremony was co-officiated by a rabbi and by M.C. Hammer, an ordained minister.  In October 2009, the couple split after seven years of marriage. Later that month, Sprague filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. She sought full custody of their son, Zen Scott Feldman, with Feldman having visitation rights. She also sought spousal support.  Feldman sought joint custody and wanted the court to block Sprague's spousal support demand.  After a five-year process, the couple's divorce became final in 2014.

On November 22, 2016, Feldman married his long-time girlfriend, Courtney Anne Mitchell. The ceremony was officiated by producer Marklen Kennedy, at Elton John's Fizz champagne lounge at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Sexual abuse issues

As an adult, Feldman has claimed that he is a survivor of child sexual abuse. According to him, he was molested by a man he first identified only as the alias "Ron Crimson", who worked as an assistant to Feldman's father.  Feldman has indicated that "Ron" facilitated his initiation into drug addiction.  Feldman later identified that man as an actor and former personal assistant Cloyd Jon Grissom; he also accused child agent Marty Weiss, and former talent agent and Hollywood underage club owner Alphy Hoffman of having sexually abused him.

On January 8, 2018, Feldman was accused of sexual battery. TMZ reported that an unidentified woman walked into a police station, filing a report that claimed Corey grabbed her buttocks in early 2017.  On February 5, 2018, the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles City Attorney's office cleared him of the charges.

Filmography

Features

Time After Time (1979) – Boy at Museum

The Fox and the Hound (1981) – Young Copper (voice)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) – Tommy Jarvis

Gremlins (1984) – Pete Fountaine

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) – Tommy Jarvis

The Goonies (1985) – Clark 'Mouth' Devereaux

Stand by Me (1986) – Teddy Duchamp

The Lost Boys (1987) – Edgar Frog

License to Drive (1988) – Dean

The 'Burbs (1989) – Ricky Butler

Dream a Little Dream (1989) – Bobby Keller

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) – Donatello (voice)

 Edge of Honor (1991) – Butler

Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever (1991) – Jessie Davis

The Magic Voyage (1992) – Pico (voice)

Meatballs 4 (1992) – Ricky Wade

Round Trip to Heaven (1992) – Larry

 Blown Away (1993) – Wes Gardner

 Stepmonster (1993) – Phlegm

 National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) – Young Cop

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) – Donatello (voice)

Lipstick Camera (1994) – Joule Iverson

National Lampoon's Last Resort (1994) – Sam

Maverick (1994) – Bank Robber

A Dangerous Place (1994) – Taylor

Voodoo (1995) – Andy

Dream a Little Dream 2 (1995) – Bobby Keller

Bordello of Blood (1996) – Caleb Verdoux

Evil Obsession (1996) – Homer

South Beach Academy (1996) – Billy Spencer

Red Line (1996) – Tony

Busted (1997) – David (also director)

Born Bad (1997) – Marco

The Waterfront (1998)

Strip 'n Run (1998)

Storm Trooper (1998) – Roth

She's Too Tall (1999) – Doug Beckwith

The Million Dollar Kid (2000) – Charles

The Scarecrow (2000) – Max the Mouse

Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000) – Sarah's Gynecologist

Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy (2001) – Himself (documentary)

My Life as a Troll (2001)

Seance a.k.a. Killer in the Dark (2001) – John

Bikini Bandits (2002) – Angel Gabriel

Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003) – Himself

Mayor of the Sunset Strip (2003) – Himself (documentary)

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003) – Himself

Serial Killing 4 Dummys (2004) – Store Clerk

 My Date with Drew (2004) – Himself (documentary)

No Witness (2004) – Mark Leiter

The Birthday (2004) – Norman Forrester

Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys (2004) – Robert Toulon

Space Daze (2005) – Himself

Terror Inside (2008) – Allen

Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008) – Edgar Frog

Hooking Up (2009) – Ryan Thompson

Lucky Fritz (2009) - Lucky Fritz

Splatter (2009) – Jonny Splatter

Lost Boys: The Thirst (2010) – Edgar Frog

We Will Rock You (2011) – Samuel Stilman

Six Degrees of Hell (2012) – Kyle Brenner

The Zombie King (2013) – Kalfu

Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (2013) – Himself / Narrator

Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015) – Aleksandr

Corbin Nash (2018) - Queeny

Short subjects

 "We Are All Made of Stars" (2002)

 Project Redlight (2002)

 American Fame Pt. 1: Drowning River Phoenix (2004)

"Last Friday Night" (2011)

"City of Angels" (2013)

Video games

Normality (1996, US version) – Kent Knutson

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze (2014) – Slash

Minecraft: Story Mode (2015) – Magnus the Griefer

Television work

Alice (Orphan Boy on "Who Ordered the Hot Turkey?") (1978)

Willa (1979)

The Bad News Bears (1979–1980)

Mork & Mindy (1980)

Love, Natalie (1980)

Father Figure (1980)

How to Eat Like a Child (1981)

The Kid with the Broken Halo (1982)

The Love Boat (1982)

 Madame's Place (1982–1983)

 Cheers – Moose (1983, season 2, episode 8: "Manager Coach")

 Still the Beaver (1983)

 Family Ties (1986, episode: "The Disciple")

 Exile (1990)

Married... with Children – Ralph (1992, episode: "T-R-A Something, Something Spells Tramp")

Tales from the Crypt (1994, episode: "The Assassin")

Dweebs (1995; canceled after 10 episodes)

Sliders (1996, episode: "Electric Twister Acid Test")

Legion (1998)

Big Wolf on Campus (1999, episode: "What's the Story Mourning Corey?")

The Crow: Stairway to Heaven (1999, episode: "Brother's Keeper")

Lovesick (2001, unsold pilot)

The Surreal Life (cast member in 2003)

Greg The Bunny (2004, appearing as self in episode Jimmy Drives Gil Crazy)

Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! (2004–2006, SPRX-77)

 Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys (2004)

 Robot Chicken (2007, episode: "Federated Resources")

 The Two Coreys (2007–2008)

 Psych (2011, episode: "This Episode Sucks")

 Proving Ground (2011, episode: "Gadgets from The Goonies")

 Dancing on Ice (2012)

 Celebrity Juice (2012)

 Border Security: Canada's Front Line (2012)

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012–2017) – Slash

 Turbo FAST (2015) – Torquer

 Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry (2016)

Discography

As Corey Feldman's Truth Movement

Love Left (1992) solo album

Still Searching for Soul (1999) with Truth Movement

Former Child Actor (2002) solo album

Technology Analogy (2010) with Truth Movement

 Angelic 2 the Core (2016) solo album w duets

Bibliography

Coreyography: A Memoir, St. Martin's Press (2013)