Actor William McNamara Opens Up About Going Sober and Burning Through His Savings After Leaving Hollywood
Actor William McNamara Opens Up About Going Sober and Burning Through His Savings After Leaving Hollywood
Virginia ChamleeWed, May 27, 2026 at 4:00 PM UTC
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William McNamara
Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty; Paul Archuleta/Getty
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William McNamara is opening up about leaving Hollywood and getting sober
McNamara garnered some 165 film and television credits before leaving Hollywood to focus on animal rights activism
He shot to fame following a role in 1988's Stealing Home alongside Jodie Foster
William McNamara is opening up about leaving Hollywood and getting sober.
In a new interview with The Los Angeles Inquisitor, the 61-year-old actor discussed how much his life changed following his role in 1988's Stealing Home with Jodie Foster.
He went on to garner some 165 film and television credits but, as he told the outlet, “I had an ongoing drug problem, and that really gets in the way."
Now 21 years sober, McNamara is focused on animal rights activism, which he threw himself into after leaving Hollywood.
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William McNamara
Credit: Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty
Of his activism, McNamara tells the Inquisitor, “It becomes the only thing in the world to you.”
He was once arrested in Japan while documenting the slaughter of dolphins (the footage of which, the outlet notes, contributed to the 2009 Academy Award-winning documentary, The Cove). McNamara later went undercover with Alison Eastwood (the filmmaker daughter of Clint Eastwood) to document exotic animals in illegal captivity, which became the show, Animal Intervention on National Geographic.
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Speaking to The Inquisitor, the actor said he spent his own money on his activism. “You don't get paid. You end up going through your savings," he said, adding that he wrongly assumed he could return to acting at any time: “As you get older… not so.”
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LA Inquisitor cover
Credit: Eden Dozier
Following his stint overseas, he returned to Los Angeles, only to realize that his savings were gone.
In addition to money problems, McNamara also faced hardship when his pit bull, Boo, was diagnosed with cancer, which required costly treatments. As landlords wouldn't allow the dog to live with McNamara, the two lived in his car in Texas for a time — with the actor noting he began to suffer depression.
"I stayed alive for her," he told The Inquisitor. "That was my reason for being."
McNamara is now focused on his self-funded autobiographical series, The Trouble With Billy, which also features Billy Baldwin and Eastwood.
“It was very cathartic taking some of the worst episodes in my life, some of my biggest mistakes, and distilling them into playable scenes," he told the outlet. "People can't believe it really happened, but as we say in the show, unfortunately, most of it did.”
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