Is Richard Grieco on Drugs?

Hell, I don't know.  I don't know the guy.  And I don't really think it's any of my business.

That appears to put me in the minority, though, since I get visitors to this blog every day on search terms like "Richard Grieco drugs."

Since there seems to be a good bit of interest in the subject, and since I've done a fair amount of research on Richard Grieco over the past few months, here's what I know:

Richard Grieco Did Go to Rehab

According to Entertainment Weekly, Richard went into rehab in 1997.  He reportedly told the magazine that his decision had been motivated by vanity, because "I knew that if I looked like shit, I was never gonna work." 

Since then, he's made 29 movies, so...draw your own conclusions.

Where Do the Richard Grieco Drug Rumors Come From?

So far as I have been able to find, the only allegations that Richard Grieco might have a drug problem have come from commenters on blogs and in forums.  Not one that I have seen claims any personal knowledge.  They seem primarily to come in response to photographs from a few years back, when Richard was quite thin, including the series from which this IMDB shot was taken.

Here's what I haven't seen: reports, even from tabloid sources, of alleged drug use, bad behavior typically associated with drug use or problems on sets; negative comments from anyone actually in the film industry; allegations of issues commonly associated with excessive drug use such as unreliability or volatility.

In short, the only source I've been able to find for any claims that Richard Grieco might have a drug problem have been snarky people who have nothing better to do than hang around celebrity message boards talking shit about people they don't know. 

So, Does the Guy Do Drugs or Not?

Like I said, I don't have a clue.  I've never met him.  But I don't think that's really the question people are looking to have answered when they Google phrases like "drugs Richard Grieco."  I strongly suspect that what you really want to know is "Does Richard Grieco have a drug problem?"  On that one, I'm going to say, "pretty damned unlikely." 

The guy is producing a television show, has filmed at least four movies in the past year and has a pretty solid third career going as a painter. 

He just turned 48 (or maybe 49, but that's a subject for another post) and this is the physical condition he's in  >>>>

And, without exception, every industry professional I've found commenting on working with Grieco has had nothing but good things to say. Sure, they're professionals and they're not necessarily going to spill the dirt...but dirt does get spilled, doesn't it? We hear a lot of specifics about celebrity drug use and the trouble it causes--but I haven't heard any about  Grieco. 

For what it's worth (and I'll readily admit that I have no idea what it's worth), TMZ reported that when Grieco pitched himself to replace Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men, his representation pointed out that he didn't have any substance abuse issues and would be reliable. And, of course, he keeps getting work.  True, he's not doing big movies, but neither does anyone seem to be shying away from working with him.  In fact, he seems to be doing a lot of work in a niche where word would get around even more quickly if there were issues. 

So...bottom line:  if you're looking for someone on the Internet to confirm your suspicion that Richard Grieco has a drug problem, you're going to have to go to a guy who calls himself something like NunjanachosXXlovrgrrrrrrl and has never come closer to Hollywood than flipping on his television set.

Richard Grieco in After Midnight

For a television producer / painter, Richard Grieco has a lot of movies in various stages of production.  In addition to the two we already knew were slated for release in 2013 (A House is Not a Home and AE: Apocalypse Earth) and one in pre-production with no announced release date (Coachella Massacre), I've just gotten wind of a third movie in post and slated for release later this year.  It's called After Midnight, and appears to be a mystery.  Tawny Kitaen also has a role in this one.  I haven't seen her in years, but recent photos indicate that she's aging beautifully...and slowly.

I haven't been able to find a lot of additional information about After Midnight yet, but Dylan Vox, who also appears in the film, recently blogged about shooting.  He says, "...Richard was a total pro and was such a nice guy to be around..."

I'll admit that I'm a little uncertain about the powers behind this one. Writer/director Fred Olen Ray's "known for" on IMDB is Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and the company behind it, Retromedia, has a lot of offerings with "Bikini" in the titles.  Still, with what looks like a lot of sci fi and horror in the works (and in recent years), I'm looking forward to a film that bills itself as a "mystery".

Addicted to Booker

Over the past month or so I've shifted away from my personal saga and into more news and information.  After being off work for more than three months with no income, I'm working like crazy during pretty much every waking hour and have barely had time to unearth Richard Grieco movies from the 90s under the pretense of reviewing them and that sort of thing.

But I'm apparently not entirely cured.  No, I don't mean of the illness that kept me off work all that time.

The other day I was working in the living room and my daughter turned toward me from the television and said, "Mom!" as if she'd just found out that I'd stolen her babysitting money or discovered porn under my mattress.

I said, "What?" quite innocently, but I knew what had scandalized her:  she'd found a Booker disc in the DVD player. 

Worse, I responded like she'd actually caught me at something.  I had an excuse for watching Booker!  It was more or less true, but still...why was I explaining myself? I'm 46 years old!  I can watch a DVD of an old television show if I want to!  Hell, I can watch Sexual Predator again if I want to.  If, you know, she's not home.

Sorry, got distracted for a minute there.

My 100% legitimate reason for rewatching Booker (besides that whole "Richard Grieco was really hot in the 80s" thing) is that I was looking for the episode in which he  tries to disabuse his colleagues of the tough-guy rumors and wraps up with "and I like cats."

So help me out.  If you know which episode that was and can fill me in, I won't have to rewatch the whole series...which means that my daughter won't feel like she needs to find me a 12 step program

A Night at the Roxbury Written with Richard Grieco in Mind?

This old article from Entertainment Weekly would have us believe so.  And, apparently the writers didn't approach him in advance, but simply named their character "Richard Grieco" and then sent him the script.

This run-down also affirms that Richard "porked up" to play himself after the glory days, and the writer indicates that he's "looking Teen Beat perfect" at the interview.

The article's author also shares that his web search for Richard turned up a "cache of nude photos" (there was an Internet in 1998?), but Grieco assures him that they must be fake.  Unless, of course, someone has been hanging out near his back yard snapping pictures.

Psychotronic Film Society Screening Final Payback

If you happen to be in the Savannah area, the Psychotronic Film Society will be screening Final Payback on March 20, in honor of Richard's birthday on the 23rd.  Their presentation is a little tongue-in-cheek and I did see the phrase, "so bad it's good," but hey...they remembered the movie (which was released in 2001) and knew it was his birthday, so they're not fooling us, right?

Not sure whether you want to check it out?  Here's a screen cap from the movie to help you decide.

 

 

Oddly, IMDB tells me that this movie gets the best ratings (by far) from males aged 18-29.  Probably all that fighting and shooting and such.

 

If you wanted to decide based on something crazy like the story line, it's basically this: Grieco plays an ex-cop who gets framed for murder and caught up in something much bigger than he bargained for.  Everyone wants to kill him or arrest him, no one can be trusted, innocent people die and in the end...well, spoilers aren't necessary.  You know how this ends, right?

Introducing Richard Grieco Forums

See that new tab at the top of the page?  That will take you to our new Richard Grieco Forums.  And I mean NEW--as of this posting, the forum has been live for two or three minutes and doesn't have a single member. 

But you're going to change all that, right?

Because I've looked all over the Internet and everywhere I see a forum with Richard's name on it, it's been idle since 2006 or has three members.  Frankly, it's embarrassing. True, he hasn't been as high-profile in recent years as he once was and that could be the reason...BUT IT'S NOT.

How do I know?

Because you're here.  If you're one of those faithful readers who sometimes visits this blog more than once a day, you're not alone.  It's happening all over the world--and this site has been here for less than two months.  There are obviously a lot of people out there looking for information, photos and a place to talk about Richard Grieco. 

So here it is.  I made you a forum.  Join.  Talk to me.  Talk to each other.  Use a pseudonym if you must.  But do join--and not just because you want to participate. Join to get those numbers up and prove to snarky critics and derisive bloggers (and casting directors!) that Richard still has a strong fan base.

A Little More Hometown News from Days Gone By

While we're looking back and delving into local newspapers and such, here's an article from the Hartford Courant published back in the summer of 1991.  Apparently, Connecticut lay claim to Richard as a "local boy made good" since he played college football for Central Connecticut.

Interesting highlights:

• This is the first article I've seen that suggests that it was Grieco who pulled the plug on Booker.  I've always thought the show was canceled, and have seen various explanations for that, but this journalist says Richard called it quits;
• A nice description of a "glittering celebration" in 20s regalia hosted to promote Mobsters: and
• For some reason, the writer gives us a rundown on Richard's changing weight across the college to acting days.  Probably it's due to the dramatic change--the 220-pound football player undoubtedly looked quite a bit different from the guy we came to know on television.

Remnants of the football days?

Creativity is in the Genes

Probably you long-term fans are way ahead of me on this one. I just learned a couple of days ago that Richard's younger brother is not only an artist and designer, but appeared on Project Accessory in 2011. 

I've checked him over (hey, someone had to do it), and I don't find any resemblance. Obviously, David inherited mom's Irish looks.  I think that if I'd watched Project Accessory in 2011 and heard David's name, I'd have dismissed the possibility that he was related to Richard because he doesn't look a thing like him. 

Obviously, though, these two have some genes in common (or "nurture" played a very big role in who they turned out to be).  The Griecos' hometown newspaper reports that in addition to his art and design work, David has "dabbled in acting" and played college football.

David has apparently been sculpting his whole life, and also sees the capturing of emotion as the focus of his work.  He's a bit more concrete in his presentation than big brother, though.  You can check out his work at David Grieco Sculpture.

 

Not the BEST Picture of Richard Grieco I've Ever Seen...

but it's apparently for a good cause, and I think it's kind of cool that Adrian Paul (of Highlander fame, if you haven't been paying attention to all of the AE: Apocalypse Earth posts and/or you missed the 90s) snapped the picture.

A small donation to the PEACE fund will allow you to download this "exclusive" photo.  The PEACE fund works with a variety of small charities that "make a positive difference in the lives of children." You can see the picture by following the donation link, though it's heavily watermarked. 

If Richard Grieco isn't your cup of tea (and really, why would you be here if that were the case?) there are many other celebs in the gallery.

People Magazine on Richard Grieco, 1989

It's always interesting to see what the press was saying in the moment, as opposed to the rewritten history that surfaces in bios and summaries across the web.  This 1989 People article not only sheds some in-the-moment light on the 21 Jump Street relationships, but includes a snippet of one of Richard's poems.  (Makes me glad I'm not a celebrity--I definitely wouldn't want poems from my early 20s surfacing online today!)

Picked from among 500 casting-call hopefuls to play Jump's cool-rebel newcomer, Dennis Booker, Grieco, 24, has been greeted this season by surging ratings and fan mail that avalanches in at the reported rate of 10,000 letters a month. "Girls see him and scream at the top of their lungs," says co-star Peter DeLuise. "Sometimes they achieve a pitch that's quite painful." In fact. Grieco is already such a draw that he will be spun off into a Fox series of his own next fall. Aware that his overnight stardom has caused hard feelings on the set, Grieco is unapologetic. "There are people in Jump Street who are jealous from the attention I get," he says. "The actors don't say anything, but I can tell."

I also found it interesting that People's scene-setting description included, "with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other..."  Nothing shocking there, except that the 1990 book about Grieco, Richard Grieco: Hot 'n' Cool, was quite explicit in its claim that Richard was serious about his anti-drug message and didn't even drink alcohol.  Told you those books couldn't be trusted ;)

Is Richard Grieco Hot in 2013?

I've rarely seen a man get such mixed reviews.  Sure, back in 1989 it was pretty much universally agreed that Richard Grieco was fatally sexy unrealistically hot a good looking guy. Even if he wasn't your type, there was no denying that.

Fast forward 20 years and the question seems to have become downright controversial.  There's a faction that seems still unable to look at Richard (or even hear his name) without thinking about chewing off those tattered jeans...but an equally vocal group that can't go on enough about how badly he's aged (and also wants to throw in a bunch of possible explanations, including drugs, bad plastic surgery and various serious illnesses).

So, I'm taking a poll. You'll find at the bottom of the right hand column for the next few weeks.  I'm not voting myself--not yet, anyway.  But I'm including a few recent photos to help you make your decision.  Contrary to the subject line, they're not all from 2013; the year just started, after all.  But they're all recent enough to be representative of what Richard Grieco looks like today.  And I was careful not to choose either the best or worst photos I could find.

Take some time to contemplate them--take as much time as you like.  Then, pop down to the lower right hand corner of the page and tell me what you think.

Richard Grieco Death Hoax Hoax

No, that's not a typo. 

This morning, when I read that last week's reports of Richard Grieco's death had been a hoax, I was immediately suspicious. See, like most people involved in marketing and PR, I live by Google alerts. And Google hadn't mentioned anything about Richard Grieco dying, or about there being a hoax claiming that Richard Grieco had died.  The first news I heard about the widespread hoax was this article about how it had all been a hoax.

And then there was this photo, which seemed a little odd since there is actually a Star Magazine, commonly referred to as Star Mag, which doesn't look like this.  And the fact that when I saved the photo, I got a template--on the site, Richard's face appears in the white space.

I did a quick search for the supposed memorial Facebook page and it didn't exist, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions.  Perhaps the page had been taken down when it emerged that the whole thing was a hoax.

But no.

A little more digging (okay, clicking a link in the middle of the article) revealed that the hoax hoax was meant to be parody (or satire, or something).  The whole site on which it appears, apparently, is a mock-news site dedicated to humor, much like The Onion or Andy Borowitz except...not funny or clever.

As near as I can tell (based on the site's own description, not just the stories that appear there), the "People" section is dedicated to posting fake celebrity news stories that look just like real celebrity news stories. The satire, apparently, is in the volume and repetitiveness.  So, if you're a regular reader, you can go, "Ha ha, yeah, that's the third celeb whose dog has had paw-replacement surgery this week!"  If, however, you just land on a random article, it's likely to be entirely indistinguishable from a real news article.  They've entirely left out the elements of absurdity or exaggeration that distinguish satire from what passes today for straight news.

At least, that's how it seemed to me.  I'm apparently wrong, though, as the site information assures me that "all stories are obviously not true."  Opinions may vary, but many of the comments seemed to agree with me, including some that expressed honest confusion as to whether particular stories were true or not.

Anyway...don't worry. Richard Grieco is not dead, and also, no one ever thought he was.

AE Apocalypse Earth Release Date May 28

Finally, some information--and they've kept us waiting until nearly the last minute.  Two days ago, Thunder Levin announced on the AE Facebook page that AE had a new name--AE Apocalypse Earth--and that they'd received a release date of May 28.  That's 81 days, just in case you want to start a count-down.

With a release imminent, Levin has started generating some press.  Dread Central has a brief synopsis of the movie (apparently, our heroes are fighting for survival on a hostile planet, and what I believed to be camouflage body paint on model Bali Rodriguez may actually be her native form) and a few new photos, including one of Richard toting a very big gun.  Seems Thunder doesn't read my blog, because he called the Dread Central item "our first press."

Levin describes the film as "more pure science fiction" than anything he's done in the past, and though no one is quite saying so it seems likely that the quick release date is intended to edge in before the theater debut of M. Night Shyamalin's After Earth. Asylum took some flak for a similar move in 2011, when SyFy premiered The Almighty Thor (also featuring Grieco in a prominent role) and then released the DVD the same week Thor hit theaters.

Whatever the motivation, the turnaround time on this one has been impressive.  The movie wrapped filming in January, meaning that all editing, sound and post are on track to be completed in approximately four months.

B Movie Nation also talked with Levin about a number of current projects, including AE Apocalypse Earth.

PRE-ORDER AE: Apocalypse Earth

Thought It Only Fair to Share...

This evening I found a blog that, unlike most of the fan sites and blogs dedicated to Richard Grieco I've seen, has a fair amount of content. 

It's in French, so that might be a handicap if you don't read the language (happily, I read enough to have made the visit worthwhile without partaking of Google's offer to translate the pages).  However, I know that several regular visitors to this site are in France and a few others in Canada, so some of you will be able to enjoy it.

And, of course, you can always say "yes" to Google translate.

But honestly, even if you don't read French and you're not interested in the choppy translation a computer program will give you...go for the pictures.  They're broken out by decade, and the 1990-2000 period alone features 26 pages of photos.  Some of them I haven't seen, and the personal photos section ("photo perso et sa vie" for those who don't speak the language) includes a few shots that appear to be candid snaps of Grieco at work on a painting or two.

Check it out here: http://richardgrieco.blog4ever.com

The 2004-style right-click disabling that doesn't prevent image theft but does keep an honest person from opening a sub-page in a new tab is very annoying, but otherwise it was quite pleasant to browse around.

Cats Dancing on Jupiter

I may possibly have devoted a bit of time over the past couple of days to searching for Cats Dancing on Jupiter.  It looks a little bloody for my tastes and I'm not sure how big a role Richard Grieco plays in it--he appears only briefly in the teaser and trailer.  With some pretty bizarre-looking blond streaks in his hair.  And there's some odd plot overlap with Sexual Predator here.



I embarked on the quest because, though I recently watched 11 of Grieco's movies (purely in the interest of science), the most recent was released in 2004.  Cats Dancing on Jupiter (2011) is the most recent of Grieco's movies that I thought I'd be able to get.  No such luck.

Though there's a lot of clamoring in various places online for this movie to be released on DVD, the producer's last statement (from October, 2012) indicated that he was still holding out for a theater release first.  They're trying somewhat unsuccessfully to use Eventful to generate demand for local screenings, so if you'd like to see this movie in theaters (and you would really like to see Richard on the big screen again, wouldn't you?), you can add your vote here: Bring Cats Dancing on Jupiter to My Town

Though it's an independent film, this one had a decent budget and Richard's isn't the only recognizable name: one of the lead characters is played by Amanda Righetti from The Mentalist and Annaliese Van der Pol and Rex Smith play signicant support roles.  With a little bit of publicity, those combined fan bases could push this one into theaters--or push Bliss Sinema to release it on DVD.

Booker All Grown Up

I don't always see Dennis Booker in Richard Grieco, which makes perfect sense--though they shared the same body (at least temporarily), characters and the actors who bring them to life aren't one and the same.
 

Sometimes I'll catch a glimpse, though, and never more so than in MovieFone's shots of Richard at the 21 Jump Street premiere. Again, I guess that makes sense. It was no coincidence that Grieco showed up to the premiere in black leather, with hair shorter than we've seen it since 1990.

Clearly, he was reprising his role (and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was happy to see it. If you haven't checked them out, MovieFone has a whole gallery of shots from that night, including about 15 of Grieco arriving in a police car and on the street outside the venue. I personally recommend # 12, wherein we learn through visuals that Richard has spent most of the years since we saw him in the original 21 Jump Street at the gym.

On a side note, Grieco looks to be having fun with premieres whether or not he has an associated character. 

The picture at the left is from the premiere of The Raven.  If you saw the film, the look will probably strike you as quite appropriate (even familiar)--and it wouldn't be the only time.

AceShowBiz has shots of Grieco from several different premieres, and more often than not he looks to be in the spirit of the film.

German Richard Grieco Fans - Talk to Me!

Here, I'll bribe you with a nice video of Richard performing in Germany in 1994:



It's always been clear (and by "always," I mean "in the entire 6-8 weeks I've been aware of Richard Grieco's existence) that Grieco had a strong following in Germany, simply because he and whatever powers that be were involved in his career at the time decided to release Waiting for the Sky to Fall in Germany in 1995.

That idea was reinforced by the fact that a significant portion of the search traffic to this blog comes from Germany.  So...I know you're there.  Talk to me!

If you were a Richard Grieco fan in Germany in the mid-nineties when this CD was released, tell me how that came about. How did you learn about Richard?  What kind of press surrounded this release in Germany?

If you're a Richard Grieco fan in Germany today--and, again, I can see that there are a lot of you--are you a loyal fan from the 90s or have you discovered Grieco more recently?  And if he was a more recent discovery, how did he come to your attention?

Working Furiously

Looks like recently, Richard has only come up for air long enough to Tweet new paintings.

Actually, I have absolutely no idea whether or not that's true--no clue what's happening in his real life or how long it takes him to create one of those pieces of artwork.  He has, however, posted two new pieces on Twitter this week.

This one kind of scared me when I first looked at it.  Which, given the name, might be the point. 

But that subject line wasn't really about him.  Over the past few days, I've been starting to get my energy back and get my head back into a few little projects like a book I was supposed to have finished back in December.  And, of course, try to make up for having had no income for more than three months.

When I started this blog a couple of months back, I suspected that I'd just let it die when this day came, but as I've gotten healthier and to feeling more like myself, the nature of my interest has shifted a bit.  Stay tuned...I may not be posting every day as I play catch-up with my life, but this isn't over.