10 Famous Comedians With Dark Sides You Didn’t Know About
4. Stephen Fry
There are times when Im doing QI and Im going, ha ha, yeah, yeah and inside Im going, I want to f****** die. I want to f****** die. Oozing with quintessential Britishness, Stephen Fry regularly graces our screen as the charming host of QI. Comedy wise, he's most renowned for his double act with Hugh Laurie in the early 90s, "A Bit Of Fry & Laurie", as well as appearances on The Young Ones and Blackadder. His endearing wit and clever wordplay has long since won over the hearts of the British public; but one thing Stephen is very honest about, is being more than a bit messed up. Who would ever guess this chap was expelled from school and spent three months in prison at 17-years-old? What's more, Fry has attempted suicide - twice. Thankfully, both were unsuccessful and he has been outspoken about his "cyclothymia", a form of bipolar disorder which made him suffer with "suicidal ideation" on a daily basis. Most recently, in 2012, Fry took a frightful amount of pills and washed them down with a bottle of vodka; vomiting from his comatose and breaking four ribs from the convulsive fit that ensued. There was also his nervous breakdown in 1995, in which Fry walked out of the West End production "Cell Mates" he was appearing in alongside Rik Mayall. He spent several days contemplating "self-slaughter" - as he calls it on his blog - including sitting in a car with thoughts of gassing himself, before deciding against it. He fled the UK, taking a ferry across the channel and winding up in Belgium. In his documentary "The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive", he said he never thought he'd return to Britain. To everyone's relief, he did, and is now president of the mental health charity "Mind"; raising awareness and understanding of mental health problems.
