Other celebrities who have gone bananas

[dead-ced-dead]

I've been watching a bunch of movies with James Woods in them and it made think of how talented he was before he went mad online. So outside of the Laurence Fox and Glinners of this world, I thought I'd make a thread for celebrities that have gone bananas that don't deserve their own thread.

I miss sane James Woods so much only to be replaced by this:



Even if it's all a grift, it's still depressing.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Paul Merton went properly mad, not just in a "saying mad things on twitter" way.
Her from the Superman films
Syd Barrett

[dead-ced-dead]

Paul Merton went properly mad, not just in a "saying mad things on twitter" way.
Her from the Superman films
Syd Barrett

I wasn't aware of Paul Merton. What's he gone and done?

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

He had a complete nervous breakdown before he was famous. Started hearing voices and ended up getting sectioned for a bit. I don't think he talks about it that much, but I remember him on some mental health documentary going through his experiences.

[Icehaven]

I wasn't aware of Paul Merton. What's he gone and done?

On Richard Herring's podcast he talked about being hospitalised with a psychotic episode brought on by medication (anti-malarial?), is that it?

Edit: And what ESP's post says too.

[Shit Good Nose]

I wasn't aware of Paul Merton. What's he gone and done?

It was years, actually decades now, ago.  Full-on nervous breakdown and numerous mental health red flags.  From memory he checked himself into a mental hospital for several months, and subsequently did a standup tour largely based on his experience (I saw the Bristol show), which I think is the only time he's ever properly talked about it at length in public.  (EDIT - as above)


Randy Quaid (and his wife I guess).  Ironically appears to have some truth to some of their claims.

[Dr Rock]

Tony Slattery throwing his fridge in the thames.

I'm very sympathetic but that bit is funny.

[dead-ced-dead]

It was years, actually decades now, ago.  Full-on nervous breakdown and numerous mental health red flags.  From memory he checked himself into a mental hospital for several months, and subsequently did a standup tour largely based on his experience (I saw the Bristol show).  (EDIT - as above)


Randy Quaid (and his wife I guess).

I loved that deep dive that I think either Variety or The Hollywood Reporter did on Randy Quaid going bananas.

[Mr Trumpet]

Perhaps not fully bananas but I did enjoy Jeremy Irons' bonkers take on the pitfalls of gay marriage a few years back

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Tony Slattery throwing his fridge in the thames.

I'm very sympathetic but that bit is funny.

The fridge must still be there. Did he do it alone? They're awfully heavy.

[Jittlebags]

Adam Ant throwing a car starter through a pub window always struck me as being a bit mad.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Nina Simone
Polly Styrene

Wiley - After his mad antisemitic outburst he recently got charged for breaking and entering someone's house, they were inside and some sort of bodybuilder. I think he might be a bit mad but sniff is definitely a contributing factor I reckon.

[ImmaculateClump]

Shelley Duvall's not well.

That the sort of thing you're after?

[Dr Rock]

The fridge must still be there. Did he do it alone? They're awfully heavy.

When you go bananas you have the strength of ten.

[robhug]

Adam Ant throwing a car starter through a pub window always struck me as being a bit mad.

easy mistake to make but it was in fact an alternator

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Is Gary Busey as mad as it's claimed, or is just the fact that he's got a mad face? I saw him on Celebrity Big Brother once and he just seemed a bit confused, and a bit deaf.

[Icehaven]

Tony Slattery throwing his fridge in the thames.

I'm very sympathetic but that bit is funny.

I was going to make some bad joke about it being a big decision for an alcoholic to chuck their fridge away but then I thought what if that actually was partly some (skewed) motivation and it made me horribly sad.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Amiga Power alumni Stuart Campbell has gone full Glinner.

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

On Richard Herring's podcast he talked about being hospitalised with a psychotic episode brought on by medication (anti-malarial?), is that it?

Yes, mefloquine/Lariam. Seems it took a long time to make the connection between the drug and his mental collapse.

His big break was in April 1982 at the Comedy Store in London. By 1988 he was writing sketches for Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones, appearing regularly on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and had been picked to do a primetime stand-up routine on Wogan. Then in 1990 the anti-malarial drugs he was taking before a holiday in Kenya triggered an acute reaction. He remembers being in a TV production office "being quite manic, very excited, talking very quickly, very passionate about things". It took two spells in the Maudsley, a psychiatric hospital in south London, to identify what was responsible for the sudden collapse in his mental health.

"I've not had any worries about my mental health before or after," he says today, "because I'm aware of the circumstances of how it came about. As soon as I stopped taking the Lariam, on the psychiatrists' instruction, I was immediately better."

They kept him in for six weeks, just to be sure, and he coped by seeing the funny side. In daily group therapy sessions, patients would talk about their problems. One was homeless, he recalls, another had been a victim of domestic abuse, another was suicidal. One day, the doctor asked Merton why he never said anything. "I said my problem is they've cancelled my Channel 4 TV series. I can't really expect sympathy for that." He firmly believes that laughter is every bit as important for mental health as diet and exercise.

[checkoutgirl]

He had a complete nervous breakdown before he was famous. Started hearing voices and ended up getting sectioned for a bit.

Was that linked to some leg injury that nearly killed him? Lad's been through a lot, his wife died of cancer a few years ago.

[checkoutgirl]

Tony Slattery throwing his fridge in the thames.

And checking out of showbiz and being an alcoholic for 20 years. I think he still drinks and seems quite fragile in his most recent interviews.

[Paul Calf]

On Richard Herring's podcast he talked about being hospitalised with a psychotic episode brought on by medication (anti-malarial?), is that it?

Edit: And what ESP's post says too.

Lariam. Horrible stuff. I didn't think it was prescribed any more.

[Gurke and Hare]

Amiga Power alumni Stuart Campbell has gone full Glinner.

The potential for him to go bananas was always there. I remember him once getting furious about the fact that fruit machines were fixed - the bananasness didn't come so much from the anger, as much as the fact that he'd obviously only just realised what everyone knew.

[checkoutgirl]

Roseanne went nuts and got her new show cancelled didn't she? Although she was always bonkers if you check behind the scenes with her.

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

On second thoughts maybe not a good thing to conflate people who are into ridiculous conspiracy theories on the internet and people with real psychosis etc.

[Tony Tony Tony]

Truth teller about the Royal Lizards, David Icke?

[Inspector Norse]

Kanye West

[king_tubby]

On second thoughts maybe not a good thing to conflate people who are into ridiculous conspiracy theories on the internet and people with real psychosis etc.

Yeah, let's stick to the former.

The Man Corr, obviously.

[poodlefaker]

easy mistake to make but it was in fact an alternator

Either way, I think he was trying to start something.

[The Crumb]

He might have a thread, but Lee Hurst went full bananas.