"The Worst Drug Dealers In History": Painkiller’s Real-Life Sackler Family & Purdue Founders Explained

At the center of Painkiller, which is based on a true story, is the Sackler family and their contributions to the opioid crisis via the development of their drug, OxyContin. Matthew Broderick portrayed the central figure in the Netflix limited series — Richard Sackler, the chairman and president of Purdue Pharma, who pushed for the launch of OxyContin as a standard painkiller in the United States. Other members of the Sackler family depicted in the drama television show were Arthur Sackler (played by Clark Gregg), Raymond Sackler (played by Sam Anderson), and Mortimer Sackler (played by John Rothman).