Eugene Fodor, a violinist who achieved stardom in the classical world but suffered a spectacular career collapse following a 1989 drug arrest, died Saturday in Arlington, Va., in his sleep. He was 60.

According to Susan Davis, his first of two wives, whom he remarried in November, Fodor was suffering from liver disease when he moved from Colorado to her Virginia home.

Fodor gained international fame after winning the 1972 Paganini Competition and the top prize in 1974 at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition, the same event that had made pianist Van Cliburn a sensation in 1958.

After Fodor’s victories, he played with most of the major orchestras in the United States and recorded.

His outdoorsy good looks made him a natural for television, where he was a frequent guest on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.”

But his career already had ebbed by the time he was arrested in 1989 on Martha’s Vineyard on charges that included possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to distribute.

A few months later, The New York Times published a story titled “From Tchaikovsky to Heroin: A Brilliant Violinist’s Decline.”