Eric Roberts has done it all across his acting career — racking up a seriously impressive 700 credits over five decades, he’s gone up against Batman in The Dark Knight, landed an Academy Award nomination for Runaway Train, and once got to ham it up opposite a Time Lord (the Doctor Who fans in the room know what I’m talking about). Of course, no life is without its hardships, however, and Roberts has faced his fair share of health concerns.
Roberts — also famous for being the brother of Julia Roberts and the father of Emma Roberts — is back in the spotlight right now thanks to his joining Dancing with the Stars for its 33rd season. What’s more, the 62-year-old star’s autobiography, Runaway Train: The Story of My Life So Far, also releases this September. His book promises to be a must-read for any fan of the actor’s, or anyone wanting to know more about him after seeing him on DWTS, as it’ll no doubt elaborate on Roberts’ shocking brush with death.
What happened to Eric Roberts? His car accident and substance abuse issues, explained
As far as we are aware, Eric Roberts has not suffered from a stroke, but he has faced various other uphill battles with his health over the years which have resulted in neurological damage.
In 1981, Roberts was involved in a serious car accident which injured his face and plunged him into a coma for three days. “I had to learn how to walk again and talk again. It was really hard,” Roberts revealed to Vanity Fair in 2018. The reason for the crash, Roberts has admitted, is partially because he was “high on cocaine” while driving, amid a substance abuse problem he was suffering from at the time. The actor believes that a combination of the injuries he received in the crash and his substance abuse contributed to him developing memory issues, as he struggles to process and retain certain information.
Roberts has opened up about how his drug problems in his younger days ruined his familial relationships, particularly with his sisters, Lisa and Julia, and cost him the custody of his daughter, Emma (her mother is his former girlfriend, Kelly Cunningham). In his book, Roberts gets frank about his failings as a brother. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they suffered from PTSD from when it was dangerous to be around me,” he writes. “Lisa and Julia needed love and protection — instead they got fear and uncertainty.”
As for his health in more recent years, Roberts caused alarm when he was spotted in a wheelchair at Los Angeles Airport in 2018. This was not due to a long-term disability, however, but the result of a hip injury Roberts had sustained while performing his own stunt for an acting role. “Eric is scheduled for a hip replacement [at] Cedars,” a rep told PEOPLE at the time. “It’s just from years of working out at the gym and taking too long to outgrow attempts to do his own stunts in movies and shows.”
Lastly, Roberts is reported to have since been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, necessitating a change of diet and lifestyle to maintain his health and fitness. As evidenced by his Dancing With the Stars stint, though, Roberts is clearly looking after himself, especially now he’s put his former problems behind him. He reconciled with sister Julia back in 2004, upon the birth of her twin children, and Eric himself became a grandfather in 2020, when Emma gave birth to her son, Rhodes.
Did Eric Roberts have a stroke?
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