Jack Black reveals trauma of his brother’s death and how he started using cocaine at 14

The actor has opened up about the death of his brother and his parents' divorce
Devastating loss: Jack Black says his life spiralled out of control after his older brother died from Aids
John Sciulli/Getty
Rashid Razaq9 October 2015
The Weekender

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Jack Black has revealed how he had started using cocaine by the age of 14 following his parents’ divorce.

The comedy actor also spoke about his grief at losing his older brother to Aids. He said his life spiralled out of control during his teenage years, but performing — and meeting his musician wife Tanya Hayden — helped him regain control.

Black, now 46, said his brother Howard’s death in 1989 at the age of 31 was “devastating”.

The actor, who has starred in School Of Rock and King Kong, told Parade magazine: “I have two gay siblings, my big sister Rachel, and my big brother Howard. He was a big influence on me. He took me to my first rock concert. I was 11, he was 23.

Goosebumps photocall

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“He was so vibrant, creative, amazing. He shaped my taste in music.”

The actor said that his brother’s death “didn’t happen quickly” and his mother never recovered from the loss. “We all saw the deterioration. He was only 31. So very young. We were robbed of something precious. It was devastating,” he added.

Black, who is starring in the new comedy movie Goosebumps, said his parents divorced when he was only 10. Afterwards he turned towards drugs and ended up attending a school for difficult teenagers.

“I was having a lot of troubles with cocaine,” he said. “I was hanging out with some pretty rough characters. I was scared to go to school ... one of them wanted to kill me. I wanted to get out of there.”

The actor, who has two sons, nine-year-old Sam and seven-year-old Thomas, added that his turbulent childhood had led to him becoming an over-protective “helicopter dad”.

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