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Sir Anthony Hopkins casts a pretty huge shadow in the world of thespians and movie stars. The Welsh-born actor has been a steady presence in Hollywood as well as the theater industry since the 1960s. However, the Oscar winner has not been quite as successful in his personal life as he has been in the entertainment industry.
Despite his well-established and formidable career, the actor has led a drastic life marred by a constant struggle with addiction and two tumultuous marriages until he finally found a footing with Stella Arroyave, his third wife. Now, theHannibalactor maintains a life of relative peace as he spends his days basking in the glory of his outstanding legacy.
Sir Anthony Hopkins’s saga of lifelong struggle
Not every man is built to outlast or forego temptation and often seeks solace in a bottle or two when the going gets tough.Sir Anthony Hopkins, for all his seemingly never-ending talent, also fell prey to the bottle in his early years as a thespian and aspiring actor in the UK.
At the same time, his marriage to Petronella Barker (daughter of comedic genius Eric Barker and actress Pearl Hackney) faced a tempest of predictable trouble that comes with an actor with addiction issues. Hopkins was not only absent through the majority of that marriage but later admitted how he had failed his wife and daughter, Abigail Hopkins, who was born in 1968.
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A report byBirmingham Mailalleged that the actor drank a bottle of tequila a day, fueled by his success in the theater, while he was married to Barker, This, in turn, made his domestic life volatile. Hopkins has since been estranged from his daughter for more than 2 decades.
After his first marriage ended in 1972, Hopkins went on to marry a production assistant Jennifer Lynton with whom he shared a similarly tumultuous marriage, finally divorcing after 29 years when they both grew apart in the aftermath of his rise in Hollywood.
An incident made Sir Anthony Hopkins go cold turkey
While married to Jennifer Lynton, Sir Anthony Hopkins began to find relative success in Hollywood. He moved to Los Angeles, California soon after they tied the knot in 1973, trying to establish himself in the industry. Soon after, a moment of epiphany struck him in the middle of his stalled career.
Despite battling addiction for decades, a moment of crisis changed everything for the Oscar-winning actor, making him take drastic measures to change his lifestyle and evolve his personal relationships.
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In an interview withThe New York Times, Hopkins admitted:
My big moment of crisis came when I realized I was a fall-down drunk. I was wrecking my marriage and friendships. I wasn’t a hell-raiser like Peter O’Toole, just dull. No charisma. A pain. People were frightened of me.
After battling bouts of crippling self-doubt and running away from responsibilities, Sir Hopkins’ moment of crisis helped him come to terms with who he wanted to become. In theNew York Timesinterview, he revealed:
When I first came to LA in the Seventies, I was drinking up a storm. Everyone else was doing drugs but I just thought: ‘This is it. No more booze.’ I’d had a couple of warnings. People told me: ‘You’ve got a nice career ahead of you, you should clean yourself up.’ But I didn’t do it for the work, I did it for me.
Sir Anthony Hopkins now leads a happily married life, crediting his third wife Stella Arroyave, a Colombian-born antique dealer, with saving his life and pulling him out of depression. They have been married since 2003.
The 86-year-old actor’s career has been flourishing as well. Recently, Sir Hopkins broke a 40-year-old record previously held by Hollywood legend Henry Fonda by becoming the oldest actor to win an Oscar at 83 for his role inThe Father.
Diya Majumdar
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2409
Diya Majumdar is a Senior Content Writer at FandomWire with over 2000 published articles on the website. Since 2022, she has been working as an entertainment journalist with a special focus on films and pop culture.Among the countless genres and themes of Hollywood, the ones that particularly favor Diya’s tastes include Game of Thrones, DC, and well-aged thrillers and classics.
