Jamie Lee Curtis has credited her late friend Richard Lewis with her 27 years of sobriety

She wrote on Instagram this week: "27 years ago, I had pain and sorrow.

"I reached out my hand and my old colleague and friend, Richard Lewis, reached out and took my hand.

"The miracle of sobriety is that it just takes one other person to relate to how you're feeling and THAT can change everything."

The Freaky Friday actress recalled how comedian Richard - who played Prince John in 1993's Robin Hood: Men In Tights - helped put her in touch with other people who understood what she was going through.

She added: "Richard introduced me to many others and for these 27 years I have met so many people who share our common link of addiction and recovery from that daily prison."

Jamie - who played Hannah Miller opposite Richard as Marty Gold in Anything But Love from 1989 to 1992 - has been inspired by that moment, and has continued to pay it forward in her own life.

She said: "I'm honored to be open with strangers, many who know me better than people I have spent my entire life with, and I try to honor all of their courage and strength, and hope daily and do what Richard did, which is reach my hand out to others in need.

"I miss my friend but his gift to me IS the gift that keeps on giving."

Jamie opened up about the impact Richard had on her life in an emotional tribute after his death in 2024.

She wrote at the time: "He helped me. I am forever grateful for him for that act of grace alone. He found love with Joyce and that, of course, besides his sobriety, is what mattered most to him.

"I'm weeping as I write this. Strange way of saying thank you to a sweet and funny man. Rest in laughter, Richard. My Marty, I love you, Hannah!"