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Brolin’s mother passed away in a car accident when she was 55 years old in 1995. During the days of his addiction, and at the peak of it, Brolin used to consider 55 years old a decent age to die. He believed that a person would have at that point lived a good and long life.
Josh Brolin Now
Now, Brolin is 56, a year older than his mother when she died. He realizes that he was misguided and that 55 is not a long life. While it took him a long time to kick his addiction, he finally made it to the other side. Brolin’s father is actor James Brolin, who is married to the legendary Barbra Streisand. Brolin has, at times, talked about how Streisand has been to him as a stepmother.
He has often talked of his stepmother Barbra Streisand and her ‘tough love.’ He said in an interview once, “Well into our happily-ever-after I walked into their house one day: ‘I’ll have a glass of wine’, I said. She looked at me and cocked her head, so I repeated myself. ‘I’ll have a glass of red wine, please.’
He went on, “She took a slow breath then hit me with it: ‘Aren’t you an alcoholic?’ It was a pretty ballsy thing to say … She always had a way of washing her tongue with a bulls*** cleanser before she talked with me.”
He added of the conversation:”(I said) ‘I’m an alcoholic, but I like red wine’. (She said) ‘You shouldn’t drink’.”
He recalls those moments of tough love quite fondly. As for his life now at 56 years old, he says he enjoys what age and sobriety bring too.
“I like getting older. It’s like a great excuse to finally go, ‘OK, just mellow out, you don’t need to constantly spin,’” the actor said.