Stand By Me cast now - heroin addiction, sex abuse, Michael Jackson scandal and tragedy

dailystar.co.uk:

films of all time, Stand by Me catapulted its childhood cast to full-blown superstardom when it was released in 1986.The coming-of-age classic sees River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell and Wil Wheaton play four friends who go hiking in search of a body.Just like their characters at the end of the film, the four main actors took very different paths in life.

For some, fame and fortune brought the oft-linked pitfalls like drug and alcohol abuse.One star became Michael Jackson's best friend and would later claim he was raped as a child by powerful men high up in Hollywood.READ MORE: Inside the world famous Star Wars Cantina venue visited by Stranger Things and WWE starsAnd in 1993, the world was stunned when one of its most promising stars died in a tragedy which mirrored the film's own poignant ending.Here's what happened after Stand by Me.Corey Feldman spent much of his childhood in the limelight, starring in classics such as Gremlins, The Lost Boys and The Goonies.He played damaged Teddy Duchamp in Stand By Me, and off-screen his life was just as turbulent.Claiming his mother force-fed him diet pills and threatened to kill him, Feldman emancipated himself from his parents when he was 15.He also said he and his late co-star Corey Haim were abused as child actors and told by 'trusted adults' that it was normal for older men and young boys to have sexual relations in Hollywood.Like Haim, he spiralled into drug abuse, having regular 'coke-off challenges' with friends and doing heroin.