He had smoldering eyes, undeniable charisma, and the kind of screen presence that made him one of Hollywood’s most electric stars of the 1980s. But behind the fame, glamour, and red-carpet flashbulbs, Eric Roberts carried one painful secret — one that followed him long before the world knew his name.
Because before he ever became an Oscar-nominated actor…
he was a young man who walked away from his infant daughter when she was just seven months old.
Rise of a Hollywood Phenomenon
Born in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1956, Eric Roberts exploded onto the entertainment scene with a talent critics couldn’t ignore. After drawing raves on Broadway for Burn This, he quickly became a Hollywood standout, earning Golden Globe nominations for King of the Gypsies, Star 80, and Runaway Train.
By the mid-’80s, Roberts was everywhere — handsome, intense, and seemingly unstoppable. But behind the scenes, he was fighting a private battle with addiction, and it soon derailed the most important relationship of his life.
“I Abandoned Her”
When Eric’s daughter Emma was born on February 10, 1991, his world should have changed for the better. Instead, his addiction spiraled, and his relationship with Emma’s mother, Kelly Cunningham, collapsed.