Christopher Lloyd Reveals Decades-Long Cocaine Addiction in New Memoir In My Own Time

Christopher Lloyd, the actor behind Back to the Future’s Doc Brown and Taxi’s Jim Ignatowski, is opening up about a decades-long addiction in his new memoir In My Own Time, published October 27. Lloyd, 88, writes that he tried cocaine at an LA comedy club in the 1970s and was hooked almost immediately. The habit later expanded into alcohol and marijuana use.

The book reaches its darkest chapter in 1983, when Taxi was canceled and a drunken, drug-fueled argument with his girlfriend ended with Lloyd punching through windows and collapsing on his kitchen floor, losing enough blood to require plasma. He entered rehab in 1993, relapsed several times, and got sober for good on April 1. Even more striking: Lloyd says he never performed under the influence, on stage or on film.

The memoir arrives as stars like these continue to reshape how fans see celebrity recovery stories, showing that the person everyone loves on screen can be fighting something invisible off camera. Whether or not you grew up quoting Doc Brown, it’s a candid look at how long recovery can take and why every return matters.

Have you ever read a celebrity memoir that changed how you saw that person? Tell us in the comments.