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Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Billy Joel Says Third Divorce Made Him Feel Like a '3-Time Loser' Who Feared 'Dying Alone' Before He Met Wife Alexis
The singer opened up about his life both on and off the stage in the two-part documentary 'Billy Joel: And So It Goes'NEED TO KNOW Billy Joel reflected on his third divorce and eventual marriage to his current wife, Alexis Roderick, in the two-part documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes He met Roderick in 2009 and wed six years later. They share two daughters Both parts of Billy Joel: And So It Goes are available to stream on HBO MaxBilly Joel is looking back at his life both on and off the stage. In the two-part documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes, the "Big Shot" singer reflected on getting divorced from his third wife Katie Lee and how meeting his current wife Alexis Roderick Joel changed his perspective. "I was going through another divorce. Three times. A three-time loser. And the fear of being alone again, dying alone, not having that person in my life anymore… and getting old," Joel, 76, said in the film. "So I was drinking again, just to kind of ease that pain. So yeah, it was kind of a lost time." Joel and Lee, 43, met in 2002 when they bumped into each other at the Peninsula Hotel in New York City. They wed in 2004. He was previously married to Elizabeth Weber from 1973 until 1982 and Christie Brinkley from 1985 to 1994. They share daughter Alexa Ray Joel. During his marriage to Lee, Joel struggled with alcohol abuse, and Lee strongly encourgaged him to go to rehab. "She kind of gave me an ultimatum. 'Either you do something about your drinking or this isn't gonna work out,'" Joel recalled in the documentary. "At that point, yeah, the relationship wasn't doing well. She became very career-oriented and she wanted to be in the city, she wanted to socialize," he added. In the film, Joel also mentioned a "theory" that Lee had been "having an affair with some guy." "That's a bunch of bulls---," he clarified. "We just drifted apart from each other." Lee and Joel ultimately divorced in 2009. Lee believed there was "always a little bit of resentment" for pushing Joel to go to the Betty Ford Center, calling it "hard on our relationship." She explained in the film, "And in a lot of ways it was hard to recover from that. I don't think either one of us wanted it to not work out, but it just became obvious that it wasn't working. "And I remember one night, we had dinner and I said, 'Bill, I'm unhappy.' And he said, 'Do you want to get a divorce?' And I said, 'Yeah.' And he said 'OK.' And that was it," added Lee. Joel met his current wife, Alexis, 43, in 2009 when he introduced himself to her at a restaurant in Huntington, N.Y. They started dating shortly after their encounter. "When you meet someone who captures your imagination, it renews, it revitalizes.... I don't know if I was open to starting a new relationship. I thought that wasn't gonna be possible. How am I gonna be able to do that again? I can't go through that again," he said in the documentary. "But all of a sudden, something happened. Something popped. And I was open to it." Alexis was an executive at Morgan Stanley when she and the "Vienna" singer met. "She was in charge of a whole section of a financial company and she was successful at it. And I wasn't really thinking about working anymore. So I was home a lot. And when she got home, there I was cooking and serving dinner," he said in the film. Joel married Alexis in 2015, surprising the 40 guests at their July 4 party with wedding vows. They share daughters Della ,9, and Remy, 7. Joel acknowledged in the documentary that he had made "a lot of mistakes" in his life, but had grown and learned from them. "And even after everything I've gone through, I still believe in love, I still believe in relationships. And it's always a big factor in my life. I probably am a romantic at heart." After sharing his diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus, Alexis thanked fans for their "love and support" on Instagram. "We are so grateful for the wonderful care and swift diagnosis we received. Bill is beloved by so many, and to us, he is a father and husband who is at the center of our world." "We are hopeful for his recovery," she added. "We look forward to seeing you all in the future." In a recent PEOPLE cover story, Joel said that he's "really enjoying this time in my life" as a husband and father of three. Both parts of Billy Joel: And So It Goes are available to stream on HBO Max. Read the original article on People
CNN
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Billy Joel sets the record straight on whether he's had multiple DUIs
Billy Joel has had a few car accidents, but not for the reason many people have believed. In his HBO documentary 'Billy Joel: And So It Goes' the 76-year-old seeks to clear up consistent speculation that he has been arrested multiple times for drinking under the influence. (HBO is owned by CNN's parent company.) In 2002, Joel crashed a car in East Hampton, New York and less than a year later, he drove into a tree in Sag Harbor which resulted in him having to be airlifted to the hospital. Two years later he crashed into a house in Long Island. The car accidents have been attributed to road conditions and Joel's depressive mental state, and while he has been in rehab before, the singer maintains that he has never gotten a DUI. 'You know, along with fame comes a lot of gossip, rumors. I didn't like the tabloid kind of press,' he said in the documentary. 'For example, there's this rumor that I have all these DUIs. That never happened, but people keep repeating the myth: 'Oh, he's got so many DUIs.'' Joel went into rehab at the Betty Ford Center in 2005 after he said he was given an 'ultimatum' by his then-wife, Katie Lee. He discussed it in 2013 with the New York Times Magazine, but at that time he again denied ever having a DUI. 'I went to rehab in '05 because, when I was with Katie, she said, 'You're drinking way too much.' I never had a DUI in my life. That's another fallacy. Look at the police records.'
Fox News
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
'Happy Days' star Henry Winkler took Marlee Matlin in after difficult relationship with William Hurt
When Marlee Matlin ended her tumultuous relationship with William Hurt, she leaned on her mentor, Henry Winkler, for support. The Oscar winner is detailing her rise to Hollywood stardom in a new documentary, "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore." According to the film, Matlin turned to the "Happy Days" star after she ended her relationship with actor William Hurt. In the documentary, Matlin claimed that her "Children of a Lesser God" co-star had a "habit of abuse." Hurt died in 2022 at age 71. The 59-year-old, who is deaf, told Fox News Digital through an interpreter that turning to Winkler during a difficult time in her life was a no-brainer. "He didn't make it hard for me to reach out to him," said Matlin. "He was always available. It was like an open door – an open door to his heart and my heart. And he knew that." "He knows that he's done that to a lot of people," she shared. "But to have that close relationship, I was just very, very fortunate. And I knew that both he and his wife were gold to me. I don't think if I had Henry in my life, I would be here. I don't think I would've made it this far. I don't think so." Hurt and Matlin starred in the 1986 film about a deaf woman's romance with a hearing-speech teacher. Matlin was 19 when she was cast opposite Hurt, 35. While the relationship was plagued with problems, Matlin did credit Hurt for inspiring her to check into the Betty Ford Center after using up every bit of cocaine and marijuana she had in their New York City apartment. However, post-rehab, Matlin realized their relationship would not be the same. "I walked out of that house and never went back," she said in the film. Winkler encouraged a sober Matlin to visit him and his wife Stacey Weitzman at their California home. There, they could "talk." Matlin took up his offer. The actor, who catapulted to fame as "The Fonz," described Matlin knocking on his door. WATCH: 'HAPPY DAYS' STAR HENRY WINKLER SHARES HIS FONDEST MEMORY FROM THE SHOW "'I just broke up with my boyfriend,'" Winkler recalled Matlin telling him in the film. "'Can I stay with you just for the weekend?' 'Sure. Stace, what do you think?' 'Of course.'" "Two years later, she finally moved out!" Winkler chuckled. Matlin said Winkler and his family took her in "as if I were one of their own." Winkler noted that Matlin was not "completely whole at that time." "What I told her was, 'If you know what you want without ambivalence, if you're clear about what you want, everything else will fall into place,'" he said in the film. Not only did Matlin begin to heal, but she also found true love. In 1993, she married Kevin Grandalski, a police officer, at Winkler's home. "You just knew," said Winkler in the film about the romance. "This is different. This is where a home is made. [And] there was no other thing to do, there was no other place for her to get married, except in our yard, in her home away from home." Winkler first saw a 12-year-old Matlin on stage in a Chicago variety show. In the documentary, Winkler recalled how Matlin's mother took him aside and asked if he could warn her daughter from pursuing an acting career because it would be too difficult for her. Winkler replied, "You got the wrong guy." Winkler became a friend and mentor to the then-aspiring actress. Their friendship has lasted for decades. "He provided a place for me to feel safe," she said. "I could always depend on the fact that he was a person who believed in me, genuinely, believed, and helped build my own self-confidence and trust the fact that he allowed me to be open and see the world more clearly. I'm so fortunate… that I was one of the people that he really cares about, truly cares about, genuinely cares about." "He was probably one of the most famous people in the world at times," Matlin beamed. "He was more famous than the President, in my opinion, and one of the most beloved people in the world. So, who would've ever thought that he would take the time and give attention to someone like me, the little girl that I was when he met me, the little deaf girl when he didn't even know American sign language?" "He didn't know anything about being deaf, about deaf culture," Matlin continued. "But you know what? It didn't matter to him. He acknowledged, of course, yes, that I communicated. He didn't ignore the fact that I was deaf, but at the same time, he treated me with love and respect, as anyone should to anyone. And I grabbed that moment when we first met, knowing that he was the real deal." Winkler, 79, said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital, "When we first saw her at age 12, it was evident how powerful and talented she was. She will always be part of our lives." Matlin is the youngest and first deaf best actress Academy Award winner. Her memoir, "I'll Scream Later," was published in 2009. In it, the actress said she was molested as a child and alleged abuse from Hurt during their relationship. "I didn't know that you could ask for help," Matlin told Fox News Digital. "I didn't know that while screaming for help, I didn't know that I could go out and seek out help, as opposed to while it was happening… hoping that somebody would come. But no one did while I was screaming. No one did… I don't want to dwell on that, but that's what happened." Following the book's publication, Hurt issued a statement to Access that read, "My own recollection is that we both apologized, and both did a great deal to heal our lives. Of course, I did, and do apologize for any pain I caused. And I know we both have grown. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good." The documentary's director, Shoshannah Stern, who is also deaf, told Fox News Digital through an interpreter that she admired Matlin's bravery in speaking before the #MeToo movement. "Everyone had so much doubt," said Stern. "And then asking Marlee, 'Why didn't you leave?' 'Why did you stay in that relationship?' I just felt that they just re-traumatized her… The questions that they asked made it worse, asking, 'Did you think that those events happened to you because you were deaf?' And Marlee continuing to say, 'I didn't know.'… And people just overlooking that comment over and over, not understanding what she meant and her strength." "She didn't know that abuse was abuse at the time," said Stern. "And that's what happens to so many deaf people in the world." The work continues for Matlin, along with telling her story. "I was determined to prove [my critics wrong]," Matlin told Fox News Digital about pursuing a Hollywood career. "It just made me want to roll up my sleeves, even more, to prove to them that I'm a deaf woman who loves acting as much as anybody else… I didn't get into this business for nothing. It was a dream come true. So why shouldn't I be able to do another film?" "But if it happened today, I would've made a lot of noise back then," Matlin reflected. "I didn't know how to speak out against those who… wanted to put me in a negative light… As a result of all those criticisms, I had to grow up so quickly. "I was 19 years old when I got into ['Children of a Lesser God'], I turned 20 during the making of the film, and I had a much older boyfriend. It was my first film, and I was trying to get sober, and everything was coming at once. And they were more interested in pulling me down than all the other things that I was going through." "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore" premieres June 20.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
What Happened to Kelsey Grammer's Sister, Karen? What to Know About Her Gruesome 1975 Murder
It's been five decades since Kelsey Grammer's sister was brutally murdered. On July 8, 1975, Grammer, who was 20 years old at the time, was at home with his family in Pompano Beach, Fla., when he received a knock on the door that would change his life forever. Detectives told the actor that they had discovered the body of a Jane Doe in Colorado Springs, Colo., whom they believed to be his younger sister, Karen Grammer. The next day, Grammer flew to Colorado, where he confirmed their suspicions and learned that Karen had been killed one week earlier — just two weeks shy of her 19th birthday. On May 6, Grammer is releasing a book titled Karen: A Brother Remembers, looking back on the brutal killing of his sister and how it continued to impact him years later. 'For a long time, the grief was so dominant that I couldn't access happiness,' the Frasier star told PEOPLE ahead of its release. "The book helped me get to a new place with that.' So what happened to Kelsey Grammer's sister? Here's everything to know about the 1975 murder of Karen Grammer — including where her killers are today. After a semester of college in Georgia, Karen had relocated to Colorado Springs to be with her boyfriend. She last spoke to Grammer on June 30, 1975, when they discussed her plans to come home to Florida after the Fourth of July. The day after their call, however, she died. When Grammer didn't hear from his sister, he got suspicious and called the police. He later learned that at 11 p.m., just hours after their conversation, she went to Red Lobster, where she worked, to wait for a friend to finish their shift. According to Grammer's recount of the police report, three men arrived at Red Lobster with plans to rob the restaurant. Upon seeing Karen, they pulled out a gun and told her to come with them. She was taken to one of the men, Freddie Glenn's, car and left with him, while the two others went into the Red Lobster, which they ultimately decided against robbing. When they returned to Glenn's car, Karen was tied up next to him. The men drove her to one of their apartments, where they took turns raping her. Then, they drove Karen to an alley, where Glenn stabbed her to death 42 times. In the years after learning of his sister's brutal murder, Grammer, whose dad, Allen, had also been killed several years prior, grappled with how to cope with his overwhelming grief. "There were some times I pretty much surrendered to despair," Grammer told PEOPLE in November 2022. In his new book, the actor opens up about his past struggles with alcohol and substance abuse. Between 1988 and 1996, he faced multiple charges for drunk driving and cocaine possession, ultimately going to rehab at the Betty Ford Center. 'I always had something in the back of my head saying, 'Okay. That's enough now. Cut it out. You know why you're doing this,' " Grammer told PEOPLE ahead of the book's release. "But there was the other part of me that wanted to surrender to it and go, 'Let it mess you up a little bit. Let it hurt.' " Despite his internal struggles, Grammer continued to wake up and go to work, starring in the NBC sitcom Cheers and later leading his own hit spinoff, Frasier. "It seemed to make it more damning in a way, but you know what? I had to do it, so I'm okay," he said. "I learned that I really am a 'I don't quit' kind of guy. I can look at the past and see, 'Oh, well, you still did what you had to do.' " Glenn was convicted of murdering Karen, along with two accomplices, including Michael Corbett. Glenn was also tried in separate trials for murdering two other men — Daniel Van Lone and Winfred Proffitt — in June 1975, per The Denver Post. According to CBS News, Glenn killed Lone, a motel cook who was 28 years old at the time, during a botched robbery on June 19, 1975. Just a week later, he killed Proffitt, an Army soldier who was 19 years old, during a drug deal, per the outlet. Although he was originally given the death penalty, his sentence was changed in 1978 to life in prison with the possibility of parole, per CBS News. Glenn is continuing to serve a life sentence in prison for Karen's and the other men's murders, and has been denied parole four times. During his first parole request in July 2009, Glenn apologized to the families of the victims, saying, "I am sincerely and truly remorseful," per The Denver Post. With his next hearing set for 2027, Grammer told PEOPLE that Glenn's excuses are "bulls---.' "His protestations these days are like, 'Well, I don't remember raping her,' " he said. Though Grammer has found a degree of forgiveness, he is still committed to holding Glenn accountable for his actions. He told PEOPLE that revisiting the details of his sister's murder for his book was "not pleasant or comforting," but ultimately provided "ammunition to keep Freddie Glenn in jail." 'You don't want to eat yourself to pieces because you can't forgive somebody,' he said. 'But it's hard to forgive a person who consciously decided they wanted to murder somebody you love. This wasn't just some temperance issue with him. It was deliberate." "I can give you forgiveness, but you're not going to get out of paying for it," Grammer continued. As for the other convicted killers, Corbett died in prison in 2019. The third accomplice is unknown. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kelsey Grammer Details Using Alcohol and Cocaine to Cope with His Sister's Murder (Exclusive)
In a new book and in this week's issue of PEOPLE, Kelsey Grammer discusses how he struggled with alcohol and substance abuse in wake of his sister Karen's brutal rape and murder in 1975 Grammer says he knew he should "cut it out" with his behavior, but part of him "wanted to surrender" and "let it hurt" Grammer's father Allen was also murdered in 1968, and he lost his paternal brothers in a suspected shark attack Kelsey Grammer is opening up about the deep and lasting toll his sister Karen's murder took on his life. In the years after he learned that Karen had been brutally raped and stabbed to death at age 18 in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1975, the actor wrestled with his family's traumatic history (their father Allen had also been murdered seven years prior) and the guilt that he couldn't do more to save his sister. In his new book, Karen: A Brother Remembers, out May 6, Grammer reveals that he struggled with alcohol and substance abuse, and between 1988 and 1996, he was charged with drunk driving and cocaine possession multiple times. He went to rehab at the Betty Ford Center. 'I always had something in the back of my head saying, 'Okay. That's enough now. Cut it out. You know why you're doing this,'" Grammer, now 70, tells PEOPLE of his addiction in this week's issue. "But there was the other part of me that wanted to surrender to it and go, 'Let it mess you up a little bit. Let it hurt.'" Related: Kelsey Grammer Reflects on the 'Terrible Loss' and Guilt After His Sister's 1975 MurderEven at the height of his struggles, Grammer forced himself to "get back up in the morning and go to work" playing fussy psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane, first on the NBC sitcom Cheers from 1984 to 1993 and then on his own spinoff Frasier from 1993 to 2004. "It seemed to make it more damning in a way, but you know what? I had to do it, so I'm okay," he says. "I learned that I really am a 'I don't quit' kind of guy. I can look at the past and see, 'Oh, well, you still did what you had to do.'" In his new book, Grammer delves into the horrific details of his sister's murder in an effort to "help people" with their own grief journeys. "For a long time, the grief was so dominant that I couldn't access happiness,' he says. 'The book helped me get to a new place with that.' It also provided a way for Grammer to make his sister known for more than just the worst thing that happened to her. He paints a picture of Karen as a free-spirited and loving woman who made the most of every moment, whose life was so much more than the way it ended. is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! 'I wanted to breathe life into her and welcome her into the world,' he says. 'We were Kelsey and Karen, brother and sister.' Related: The Murder of Kelsey Grammer's 18-Year-Old Sister in 1975 Still Haunts Him: 'It's Always with You' As children, Grammer and his sister weathered a lot together, beginning with their parents' divorce in 1957 when Kelsey was a toddler and Karen only a few months old. After the split, the siblings moved with their mom Sally, a dancer, from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands to her parents' home in New Jersey, while their dad Allen, a music shop owner and publisher, stayed behind. Grammer and his sister didn't see their dad again until 1967. That same year, the siblings lost their beloved maternal grandfather, Gordon, to cancer. A year later, Allen was shot and killed at his home in St. Thomas by a taxi driver amid a wave of racial violence following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The killer was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and it's still not known exactly why Allen was targeted. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer , from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 'He was 38 years old when he died, which didn't really hit me until I turned 38 and realized how young he had been," Grammer says. "That's just barely getting started.' Karen moved to Colorado Springs after a semester at college in Georgia to be with her boyfriend. Grammer last spoke to his sister on June 30, 1975, and she told him she planned to come home to Florida after the Fourth of July. Related: Kelsey Grammer to Publish Memoir About Late Sister Karen: 'Our Love Is Forever' (Exclusive) When he didn't hear from her again, Grammer called the local police. He later found out that just hours after he and Karen had chatted, she went to the Red Lobster where she worked at around 11 p.m. to wait for a friend to finish their shift. A man named Freddie Glenn and two others had planned to rob the Red Lobster, but when they pulled up behind the restaurant, they spotted Karen. With a gun drawn, they told her to come with them. Karen was taken to Glenn's car and was left with him as the other men entered the restaurant and ultimately decided against the robbery. When they returned, they found Karen tied up next to Glenn. They drove her to one of the men's apartments, where they took turns raping her. The men drove Karen to an alley, where Glenn stabbed her 42 times and nearly decapitated her. Glenn was convicted of Karen's murder and several others in the area. Related: Kelsey Grammer's 7 Kids: Everything to Know Tragedy struck the family yet again five years later, when Grammer's paternal half-brothers, twins Billy and Stephen, were killed in a suspected shark attack while scuba diving in the Virgin Islands. Billy's body was never recovered, and Stephen was found washed up on shore after aspirating into his regulator. "There's a legacy of early death in my family, which is really interesting,' says Grammer, now a dad of seven. 'I pray to [disrupt] that cycle and give longevity to my family.' Karen: A Brother Remembers fittingly ends with Grammer's pilgrimage to Colorado Springs to retrace Karen's last steps. 'I had to complete my farewell to her. I had to be there and hold her in the end,' he says. 'It became important to get the closure. I hate clichéd words like closure, but I got the opportunity to say all the things I never said.' And when Grammer finished writing, his wife of 14 years, Kayte Walsh, was the first person he told. "She said, 'Well, I've missed you,'' he recalls, tears welling up in his eyes. 'I had to go away for a while — there were hours on end that I would just be staring off. But she was patient and loving through it. I had definitely lost a lot of the joy, and this brought it back for me.' Karen: A Brother Remembers comes out May 6 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold. Read the original article on People
