Christopher Atkins: Life Struggles of ‘Blue Lagoon’ Star

From being a Hollywood star at 19 to becoming nearly bankrupt and checking into rehab a few years later, Christopher Atkins has had quite the taste of life's struggles. The actor is not one to give up on life, however.

As of 2009, PEOPLE reported that the "Blue Lagoon" star makes a living constructing swimming pools, which is ironic because, in Los Angeles, pools are nearly almost lagoon-like.

"You have to do what you need to do," Atkins, now 58, told the outlet back then. "If you look at life as an adventure, when the good, bad, and ugly hits you, you'll still get through it."

"It is kind of my turn again," he said. "Somewhere in the back of your mind, you wonder, do you still have it?"

Atkins' life struggles can be traced all the way back to his high school days when a degenerative cartilage condition known as chondromalacia put an end to his baseball career dreams. Per PEOPLE, the actor underwent several knee surgeries.

Things started to look up for Atkins in 1980 when he scored the part of Richard Lestrange in "The Blue Lagoon." Four years later, the New York-born actor was still on top of the world after meeting Australian model Lynne Baron.

Atkins and Baron moved very fast. The same year they met, on 25 May 1985, the couple tied the knot in Sydney, Australia. Unfortunately, things started to go downhill from there.

As a newly married man in his early 20s with a few acting offers, Atkins went off the radar, nearly ending up bankrupt and going into rehab for alcohol addiction.

It didn't help that the actor's former manager, Mark Schneider, had embezzled about $500,000 from his celebrity clients. Atkins was one of those affected and ended up broke.

Unable to handle this, Atkins suffered an alcohol-related breakdown in 1986. "There is nothing worse than having your whole life pulled out from under you," he recalled of the experience.

Atkins has been sober for over two decades now, and in 2000, Baron confirmed that her then-husband had managed to get back up and turn things around. Sadly, the couple divorced seven years later.

In 2009, Atkins returned to TV on the reality series "Confessions of a Teen Idol" and joked about taking another shot at fame. "It is kind of my turn again," he said. "Somewhere in the back of your mind, you wonder, do you still have it?"

Despite his troubled life, Atkins remains positive and hopeful, taking joy in his job and his children. He and Baron are parents to son Grant, 34, and daughter Brittney, 32. "I wouldn’' change a thing [about what I've been through]. It's who I am today," Atkins declared.