Jamie Lee Curtis struggled with an opioid addiction she kept secret from the world since the late ’80s.
“I was ahead of the curve of the opiate epidemic,” Curtis, 59, told People. “I had a 10-year run, stealing, conniving. No one knew. No one.”
The “Halloween” star explained that she was prescribed painkillers after a minor plastic surgery operation on her eyes in 1989.
Afterward, she developed an addiction to the drugs, even stealing them from friends and family.
It wasn’t until Curtis’ sister, Kelly, caught the star stealing pills from her in 1998 that anyone knew the horror queen had a problem.
Curtis said she attended her first recovery meeting the following February, noting that addiction ran in her family: Her father, actor Tony Curtis, was an alcoholic who also struggled with cocaine and heroin use, while her brother, Nicholas, died of a heroin overdose in 1994.
“I’m breaking the cycle that has basically destroyed the lives of generations in my family. Getting sober remains my single greatest accomplishment … bigger than my husband, bigger than both of my children and bigger than any work, success, failure,” she said.
The “True Lies” actress still attends meetings regularly.
“In recovery meetings, anyone who brings up opiates, the entire room will turn and look at me,” she said, “because I’ll be like, ‘Oh here, talk to me. I’m the opiate girl.’ “