7 Memorable Movie Whiskey Drinkers

5. Glen Whitehouse – Affliction

James Coburn’s portrayal of a drunk, violent father and husband may have been harrowing and chilling, which are not the words you would use to describe a “fun drunk.” He beats his children, lets his wife die of hypothermia through negligence, then conks his son on the head with a bottle of the film’s ubiquitous Brown’s Whiskey.

He’s a whiskey drinker, so in this case, we’d rather be around a flamboyant dude drinking cucumber mojitos.

4. Rooster Cogburn – True Grit

Whiskey is the official drink of the old west, so it would be easy to populate this list with most every western character in the history of film. Instead, I tried to find one embodiment of the whole sloshed, surly cowboys sensibility. Even though the film is but a year old, Jeff Bridge’ true grit hero encapsulates all of it: the reluctant hero, the curmudgeon, the drunk. As such, he’s our official western-genre representative, with apologies to Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, and every other really old actor in Hollywood.

3. Henry Chinaski – Barfly

In this cult favorite, Mickey Rourke offers up a thinly-veiled portrayal of noted writer and drinker Charles Bukowski, who spent his time drinking scotch and… not much else. He does offer this doozy of a quote to the masses:

“Anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth.”