Sharon Stone remembers career strife after near-fatal stroke: 'I lost everything I had'

Erin Jensen

Sharon Stone is revealing the impact her 2001 health crisis had on her career.

The Academy Award-nominated actress opened up about her massive stroke and "nine-day brain bleed" to Variety Wednesday at an event for the Women’s Brain Health Initiative.

Stone estimated it took "about seven years” following her stroke to heal. The "Casino" star said she experienced blows to her personal life and career.

“(From) trying to keep custody of my son to just functioning – to be able to work at all,” she remembered. “I was so grateful to Bernard Arnault (Chairman and CEO of LVMH), who rescued me by giving me a Dior contract. But I had to remortgage my house. I lost everything I had.

Sharon Stone attends the Brain Health Initiative 100th Anniversary Of Women's Suffrage Gala on July 17, 2019 in Los Angeles.
Sharon Stone attends the Brain Health Initiative 100th Anniversary Of Women's Suffrage Gala on July 17, 2019 in Los Angeles.

"I lost my place in the business. I was like the hottest movie star, you know?” she continued. “It was like Miss Princess Diana and I were so famous – and she died and I had a stroke. And we were forgotten.”

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Stone spoke about her professional challenges in an interview with USA TODAY in 2015. "You find yourself at the back of the line in your business, as I did," she said. "You have to figure yourself out all over again."

Wednesday, Stone recalled the severity of her medical emergency.

"I didn’t get to the hospital until day three or four of my stroke. Most people die," she said. "I had a 1% chance of living by the time I got surgery – and they wouldn’t know for a month if I would live.”

But the 61-year-old continues to thrive. Earlier this year, she posed topless during a photoshoot for Vogue Portugal's May issue. The cover image, featuring Stone with legs spread, harks back to her famous pose in the 1992 film "Basic Instinct."

Contributing: Bill Keveney and Sara M. Moniuszko

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sharon Stone's stroke impaled her career after nine-day brain bleed