Tragic Details About The Life Of Woody Harrelson

Woody Harrelson has led a uniquely fascinating life, filled with enormous triumphs and more than his fair share of pain, heartbreak, and challenges. Born and raised in Midland, Texas, Woody got the acting bug while in college and pursued his career to Hollywood, where he landed a coveted role on the megahit sitcom "Cheers," which catapulted him to fame.

Since his early days on the small screen playing bartender Woody Boyd, the celebrated actor has gone on to earn 10 Emmy nominations — winning one — and three Oscar noms. He's also starred in a slew of box office hits, including "The Hunger Games," "Zombieland," "Solo: A Star Wars Story," and smaller passion projects, like "Rampart," "Champions," and the 2020 documentary "Kiss the Ground," among countless others. However, the road to success has not been a smooth one for Woody, who has faced his fair share of hardship, controversy, and public embarrassment.

From growing up without a father, to struggling with emotional problems and rage issues, to run-ins with the law, the "Electric State" actor has overcome a lot as he's navigated fame, love, and success in the heat of the public spotlight.

Woody Harrelson's father, Charles Voyde Harrison, wasn't involved in the actor's life when he was young, after he abandoned his family in 1968, leaving Woody and his brother, Brett Harrelson, to be raised by their mother, Diane. Charles was a charming conman, debt collector and eventually paid killer. The year he left his family was the same year he was arrested and tried for the murder of Alan Harry Berg. Although later acquitted, he was also arrested, charged and convicted of the 1968 murder-for-hire of a grain dealer, Sam Degelia Jr., which landed him a 15-year prison sentence. In 1978, Charles was released early, after serving only five years behind bars.

The same year he was released, Charles accepted a $250,000 hit on a federal judge, and was suspected of shooting him outside his home in San Antonio, Texas. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. It was from behind prison bars that Charles reached out and reconnected with Woody in 1981, and the actor visited his dad in prison, where they began to form something of a bond.

"I don't feel he was much of a father... He took no valid part in my upbringing," Woody told People in 1988. "My father is one of the most articulate, well-read, charming people I've ever known. Still, I'm just now gauging whether he merits my loyalty or friendship. I look at him as someone who could be a friend more than someone who was a father." Eventually, Woody mounted a campaign to have his father retried, arguing that he felt the initial trial was conducted unfairly. However, Charles died of a heart attack in his prison cell in 2007 at the age of 68.

When affable actor Woody Harrelson was younger, the star dealt with a lot of unresolved emotional turbulence, bouts of anger, and lashing out. This often led to him picking fights with strangers and directing his rage toward anyone he felt was a bully or who messed with him in any way. "I was a pretty happy guy, but I also had a lot of rage. When I was a kid, I had real emotional problems. I would have these tantrums," Woody shared with The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. Woody told the publication that, as he got older, he would often go into bars just looking for fights and that, as a result, he's got scars all over his body.

Woody has said that his rage would come out unexpectedly, and that he had a hard time balancing his anger and his joy. "I had an unusual sensitivity but also an unearthly violence that just came out in spurts," he told People in 1988. He also told Details magazine (via Texas Monthly), "I think there's many times that if I'd been holding a weapon, I'd have killed somebody." However, as he's gotten older, Woody has found ways of bringing himself out of anger or depressive states, using yoga, meditation, and putting in the work with a psychiatrist.

While his father was serving time in federal prison, Woody Harrelson found himself on the wrong side of the law as well. Woody's anger issues put him at odds with cops on more than one occasion. A notable first was in 1982, when Woody was 21 years old, and he got detained by police for jaywalking. He lied to the cops about not having an ID on him, and as retaliation, Woody claims the cops roughed him up.

"He grabbed me, smashed me against the wall a couple of times. I knocked his hands off, pushed him away and started running. And that was the beginning of a real dire episode," Woody told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. "He put out an officer-in-distress signal, and soon I'm just surrounded by blue, and they had me down on the ground, knee in my throat. It was so brutal, the way they were handling me." Woody was thrown into a police van, but made a break for it when they stopped to pick up someone else. He recalled running away until he was hit by a car, surrounded by cops and maced in the face. "At that time, I was still entertaining the notion of becoming a cop," Woody recalled. "I stopped wanting to be a cop, for sure. But by then I was probably more interested in being an actor."

Kypros/Getty

Woody has also sparred with paparazzi numerous times, and has faced multiple civil suits for allegedly accosting tabloid photographers. In 2009, he found himself in hot water for punching a TMZ photographer, and claimed at the time that he was still in character after shooting "Zombieland" and simply mistook the photographer for a zombie.

Growing up, Woody Harrelson was raised by a collective of very strong, smart women, including his single mother, Diane, as well as his grandmother and great-grandma Polly, who held a special place in his heart for her natural talent as a storyteller. Sadly, Woody missed a chance to see her before she died, and he considers it one of the biggest regrets of his life. "I had to see my great-grandmother when my mom said, 'Now you be sure to stop by there on your way to the airport,' and I was running late, and I'm like, 'I'll see her next time,' and I didn't get a chance to," Woody told GQ in an interview in 2012.

"My great-grandmother Polly was a real pistol. She could tell a story and everything about her was great," Woody raved. For the actor, his regret isn't just about missing out on saying farewell, but also about the treasure trove of tales and family history that Polly took with her when she died. "I wish I'd written down her stories because there were some great stories, and she knew all this stuff about her mom and her mom's mom and now that's all gone."

Woody Harrelson hasn't been shy about his propensity for enjoying the occasional vice, whether it be weed or alcohol. However, over-indulging in the latter has led to some serious problems for the actor in life and in his relationship with wife Laura Louie. "My problem is, I'll drink, and then I'll drink too much," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "One of the bad things about celebrity... is everybody wants to have a shot with you. It's dangerous to go into a regular bar because I can end up doing a lot of shots, depending on the charity of the [other people]."

Ultimately, an incident like this led to Woody making a poor choice in 2002 when approached by a group of women at a bar in London, where he was appearing in a play on the West End. The women suggested they go back to his place, and Woody –- despite being in a relationship with Louie, who he would go on to marry in 2008 –- agreed. So, they went to his apartment for an illicit tryst. According to Woody, one of the women was in league with a British tabloid photographer and the whole thing was a set-up. Woody was photographed in bed with three women, and the pics were published across the globe.

Ultimately, Laura forgave him for the indiscretion, and was by his side to bail him out of jail later the same week, following a verbal altercation with a taxi driver, which led to him running away from police. "It was one of the worst nights of my life. I wanted to repress it," Woody said. However, he decided to use the embarrassment and pain as inspiration for "Lost In London," his 2017 directorial debut.