Hollywood & Heroin: 28 Stars Who Used What Killed Cory Monteith

Heroin has taken the life of many celebrities, but a few lucky ones have survived.

Jim Morrison

The Doors frontman died on July 3, 1971, at age 27. He was found in a

Paris apartment bathtub. Though no autopsy was performed because the

medical examiner, it's though Morrison was the victim of a heroin

overdose, having insufflated what he believed to be cocaine.

Janis Joplin

Joplin was discovered at the Landmark Hotel in 1970 on the floor beside

her bed. The official cause of death was an overdose of heroin, combined

with the effects of alcohol.

Chris Farley

The Saturday Night Live star died of a drug overdose in his apartment in

October of 1997. He was 33 years old.

Nicole Richie

"By 18 I had stopped using cocaine and that's when I got -- got into

pills a little bit and then -- and then I got into heroin," Lionel

Richie's daughter told Ryan Seacrest on CNN in 2005.

Robert F. Kennedy

In 1983, Robert F. Kennedy was arrested in a Rapid City, South Dakota,

airport for heroin possession. A search of his carry-on bag uncovered 182

milligrams of the drug. Then aged 29, he was sentenced to two years

probation. He's reportedly not used drugs since.

Corey Feldman

The 1980s child star was arrested in 1990 after he was found to be in

possession of heroin.

Russell Brand

Katy Perry's ex-husband struggled with heroin addiction early in his

career while working in Britain. He says he's been clean since 2003.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

In 2013, Philip Seymour Hoffman checked in for a 10 day detox after a

relapse -- snorting heroin. He confessed that his drug use had slowly

escalated after a period of using prescription pills and that he only

used heroin for about a week.

Courtney Love

In an interview in 2011, the rocker claimed she used heroin -- in the

mid-1990s -- at hard-partying Sheen's Malibu, Calif., mansion. "Tom

Cruise was there and Madonna," Love recounted, though the pair was not

involved in the hijinx. A pal "convinced me to shoot up. 'Come on,

everyone's doing it.' So that's when my whole heroin drama began," she

said.

Robert Downey jr

The Iron Man star was arrested numerous times on drug-related charges

including cocaine, heroin and marijuana possession from 1996 through

2001. At one point, he told a judge that using drugs was "like I've got a

shotgun in my mouth with my finger on the trigger and I like the taste of

the gun metal."

Steven Tyler

In his autobiography, the bad-boy frontman revealed he was spending

$2,000 a week on heroin, cocaine and alcohol. "I blew 20 million. I

snorted my Porsche, I snorted my plane, I snorted my house in that din of

drugs and booze and being lost," he wrote.

Angelina Jolie

"I have done just about every drug possible: cocaine, ecstasy, LSD and,

my favorite, heroin," Jolie told The Mirror in 1996.

River Phoenix

During the early morning hours of October 31, 1993, Phoenix collapsed

outside the Viper Room, a nightclub owned by Johnny Depp on Sunset

Boulevard, from a drug overdose of heroin and cocaine -- known as a

speedball -- further amplified by the administration of diazepam. The

child star's autopsy revealed lethal doses of cocaine and morphine.

Jimi Hendrix

Guitarist Jimi Hendrix was arrested in 1969 for possession of heroin, but

he was acquitted of those charges after testifying that the drugs were

planted in his belongings. He died in 1970 of a drug overdose.

Eric Clapton

Early in his career, Clapton fell in love with Pattie Boyd, who at the

time was married to close friend George Harrison. As a result, he

withdrew from recording and touring and lived in isolation at his Surrey,

England, residence, where he became enmeshed in a world of heroin use.

Jenelle Evans

The MTV reality star was arrested on April 23 in 2013 for heroin

possession and assaulting husband Courtland Rogers. In an interview

before the bust, Jenelle claimed that she'd only used the drug previously

for a month.

Samuel L. Jackson

The Pulp Fiction star overdosed on heroin three times before he realised

it was time to clean up. He checked into rehab in 1991, but not before

putting his family through hell. "The third time I OD'd on heroin I quit

the drug completely. It's too dangerous," he told biographer Jeff Hudson

"I was mad. I was crazed. I was not happy with who I was."

John Belushi

The Saturday Night Live comedian was found dead after suffering a drug

overdose at Hollywood's famed Chateau Marmont hotel on Sunset Boulevard

on March 5, 1982. He'd been staying at the Sunset Strip hotel for about a

week before his death of a heroin and cocaine cocktail.

Kurt Cobain

The Nirvana frontman was found in 1994 at his Lake Washington home by an

electrician who had arrived to install a security system. Though he

killed himself -- a suicide note was found -- a high concentration of

heroin and traces of diazepam were also found in his body.

Paula Yates

The partner of INXS rocker Michael Hutchence died of a heroin overdose in

the wake of his death. The coroner ruled that it was not a suicide, but a

result of "foolish and incautious" behavior -- heroin use.

Sid Vicious

The bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols died in his sleep after

partying with heroin the night of his 1979 release from New York's Rikers

Island jail. The dealer of the drug on that fateful night? His mother.

Jonathan Melvoin

The keyboardist for the Smashing Pumpkins died, age 34. He was the victim

of a mixture of alcohol and a lethal strain of heroin known as Red Rum.

Bradley Nowell

The lead singer of the alternative band Sublime was found dead of a

heroin overdose in a San Francisco motel in 1996 -- just hours before the

group was to perform a sold-out concert.

Hillel Slovak

Cops discovered the founding member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers dead in

his Hollywood apartment on June 27, 1988. During his autopsy, it was

determined that he had died two days earlier from a heroin overdose.

Pete Farndon

In 1983, the founding member of the rock band The Pretenders, famous for

their song, I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), was discovered in his bathtub by

his wife following a heroin overdose.

Dee Dee Ramone

Dee Dee Ramone, the founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the

punk rock band the Ramones, died of a heroin overdose. The Los Angeles

coroner established the musician had a long history of heroin abuse.

Authorities found a syringe with "possible drug residue" and five

balloons with "possible drug contents" in the musician's Hollywood

apartment.

Lenny Bruce

The standup comedian died in 1966 after reportedly overdosing on heroin.

Billie Holiday

The jazz singer struggled with heroin and alcohol abuse during her

career, including a 1947 arrest for drug possession. She served a year in

prison.