The O’Keefe family is again witnessing a beloved family member battle with drugs and mental ill health.
Barry O’Keefe did not want his son Andrew to go into show business. The titan of Australian justice – he was a judge, mayor and corruption fighter – had watched helplessly as his younger brother Johnny, Australia’s first rock star, was consumed by drugs, booze and mental health problems, and died from a prescription drug overdose at 43 years old.
Only O’Keefe can pull himself out of this mess now. “God help him,” Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge said. Still, with all his talent and charisma, the career switch was a success. At one point, O’Keefe was estimated to earn $1 million a year. He became a game show host, a co-anchor of, and an occasional stage performer, including in his own cabaret show about his uncle. He had a penchant for Prada. He owned a tapestry by Arthur Boyd and an etching by Matisse.
In 2021, as his spiral intensified, Seven cut ties. That year, he also admitted to spitting, slapping and kicking his new partner when she accused him of bringing an ice pipe to a party. The charges were dismissed under the mental health act after the magistrate accepted that O’Keefe had been in a hyper manic state, and there was evidence of bipolar disorder in the family. He also had substance use disorder.
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