As a child, he found out that his father was a contract killer, and he cheated on his wife with a number of women and led a debauched life.

Woody Harrelson made a name for himself in 1985 as an assistant bartender in the hit series “Cafe Cheers,” and has interesting family history behind him. 

The actor, who celebrates his 60th birthday on July 23, was born in Texas and has brothers Jordan and Brett who do the same job as him. Woody grew up in poverty because he and his brothers were supported by his mother Diane with the salary of a secretary. 

His father, Charles Voyde Harrelson, was rarely present in his life, and in 1974 he was sentenced to life in prison. Namely, Charles worked as a contract killer and earned huge sums for it. 

"I was 11 or 12 when I heard my father's name on the radio. It was a trial report. I remember thinking, 'It can't be that there are two Charles V. Harrelson.' It dawned on me, so that's my father. I was in shock," Woody once revealed. 

His father was even suspected of involvement in the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated on November 22, 1963. 

The actor’s parents divorced because of his father’s shocking life when he was seven years old. Woody once admitted to visiting his dad in prison, although there was no relationship between them. 

"We were born on the same day. And there's a saying in Japan that if you share a birthday with your father, you're not just like him but you're actually a reincarnation of your father. I've always wondered how much we actually resemble each other and how many things we do the same way," Harrelson once said. 

The actor wanted to help his father and before he passed away in 2007, he spent millions of dollars to enable a new trial. But he failed to do so and his father died while serving a prison sentence from heart failure. 

Woody, because of his statements about smoking marijuana and other activities in public, left the impression of a person who leads a debauched and fun life, but in reality, he is different. 

Harrelson and his wife, entrepreneur Laura Louie, 55, whom he married in 2008, created a home in Hawaii. The couple has daughters Zoe (24), Deni (28), and Makani (15), and they met in the eighties. 

Namely, Laura was a personal assistant to Woody, who fell in love with her in 1986 after only a year of marriage to Nancy Simon, the daughter of actor Neil Simon. 

Harrelson and Nancy quickly, that is, the day after their wedding in Mexico, realized that they had made a mistake and wanted to file for divorce in order to end it all as soon as possible. But the divorce office did not work, so they remained married for 10 months. 

Not everything was so fabulous in his relationship with Laura either. Namely, Woody was constantly partying with other women, even though she was waiting for him at home with their daughter Danny. At one time, he admitted that he was fascinated by fame and that he behaved stupidly. 

Because of his debauched parties, he also had two houses. The actor lived in one with Laura and his daughter, and in the other, he had parties attended by Hollywood starlets and strippers. 

Woody often cheated on his current wife and also had an affair with older colleague Glenn Close. They met while she, Woody, and Laura Dern were acting together in the drama “Brooklyn Laundry” at a small theater in Los Angeles. They broke up in 1991 after a few months of relationship and remained good friends. 

In the period they were together their relationship boiled down to a lot of sex and enjoying opiates. The actor decided to break up with Glenn because he wanted a more peaceful life. Among his lovers was Brooke Shields, who got famous in the movie "Blue Lagoon". 

All of this didn’t drive away Laura who was babysitting their daughters while he partied and cheated on her with other women. "I don't think I'm a man who deserves advice. I've made a lot of mistakes, so I think I've been a great example to them of not working in life. I hope they'll be smarter than me," said Harrelson, who married Laura in 2008 after 22 years of relationship. 

By the way, Woody is vegan and at the age of 24, he realized that he had to change his diet due to facial skin problems. He first gave up dairy products and then switched to only raw foods and gave up meat because he didn’t feel well while eating it. 

The actor once opened the World Chess Championship and attracted a lot of attention. Namely, while he wanted to make a move, he overthrew the king, which made many laugh. 

Harrelson is also known as a marijuana legalization activist who often points out that he consumes it. He once said he smoked a joint to endure dinner with U.S. President Donald Trump. 

The actor is also remembered by many for his films "Wildcats", "Doc Hollywood", "The Great Hackers" and the hits "Born Killers", "People vs. Larry Flynt" and "Three Posters Out of Town", and he was nominated for an Oscar three times. 

By: Amber V. - Gossip Whispers