Demi Moore was born 1962 in Roswell, New Mexico. Her father
Charles Harmon left her mother
Virginia Guynes (nƩe King) before Demi was born. Her stepfather Danny Guynes didn't add much stability to her life either. He frequently changed jobs and made the family move a total of 40 times. The parents kept on drinking, arguing and beating, until Guynes finally committed suicide. Demi quit school at the age of 16 to work as a pin-up girl. At 18 she married rock musician
Freddy Moore; the marriage lasted four years. At 19 she became a regular on the soap opera
General Hospital (1963). From the first salaries she started partying and sniffing cocaine. That lasted more than 3 years, until director
Joel Schumacher threatened to fire her from the set of
St. Elmo's Fire (1985) when she turned up high. She got a withdrawal treatment and returned clean after a week, and stayed clean. With determination and a skill for publicity stunts, like the nude appearance on cover of Vanity Fair while pregnant, she made her way to fame. Since the huge commercial success of
Ghost (1990) and the controversial pictures
Indecent Proposal (1993) and
Disclosure (1994) she's one of Hollywood's most sought-after and most expensive actresses.