Leif Garrett Part II

I’ve already written a blog about Leif Garrett, but I feel the need to write another. (See what I did there?)

Leif Garrett was the Justin Bieber of the 1970’s. Leif was a gorgeous blonde boy who graced the covers of most teen magazines in the mid to late 70′s. I had many of his pinups and posters on my walls. He was a talented kid who could sing and act. His father was never really in the picture and it seems as if mom wasn’t much of a mom. Sounds very similar to Justin Bieber.

Leif Garrett said of his mom, “You don’t allow a 14 or 15-year-old kid to go on the road without parental guidance. The bartenders knew who I was, knew how old I was, but no one said no.”

Dr. Drew

Leif appeared in Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2011. I thought Leif did a nice job of presenting himself on that show. He seemed like a very cool guy. He said on the show that he hadn’t been sober since he was 14. Sad. It seemed like Leif was working on his sobriety mainly for his mom who is very sick. I’m thinking he’ll go crazy and relapse once she dies. I’m hoping I don’t have to update this blog in the future with details of his death. His mom, Carolyn Stellar, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005. She’s still alive as far as I know.

Sister Dawn Lyn has retired from acting. She was the main bread winner (she was Dodie on My Three Sons) until Leif’s career took off in the 70’s. I don’t think mom was prepared to deal with two child stars in the family.

The last time I saw Leif was in 2007 at the state fair. He was on a tour with a bunch of other teen idols. The concert consisted of Leif, Barry Williams from The Brady Bunch, Bo Donaldson, The Cowsills, and Ian Mitchell from The Bay City Rollers. Although Leif looked really good in his jeans (butt), it made me sad to see him. He obviously didn’t want to be there. He wore dark glasses the entire time even though it was an outdoors concert at night. He couldn’t remember the words to Surfin’ USA. He didn’t come out at the end with the other performers for the encore. He was supposedly off drugs at that time, but I’m sure that’s not true.

Memoir

Leif Garrett announced last month [November 2018] that he has signed on with well-known New York literary agent John Silbersack of The Bent Agency to handle the sale of his upcoming memoir. Leif said, “I’m confident that his knowledge and insights will not only result in finding the right publisher, but also help me create the book that I really want to write.” He tweeted that he’s very excited for this big step in telling his truth. I will definitely buy this book but am prepared to be sad. I hope one day there will be a happy ending for Leif.