Brutal murders and fatal accidents. Childhood abuse and neglect. But who suffered an even
worse fate? They played the game like pros, but these beloved stars were dealt some deadly cards.
Jennifer Hudson rose to fame after appearing on "American Idol" in 2004.
And although she didn't win, she was a fan favorite, going on to find success
as both a singer and an actor. By 2008, she was a Grammy nominee and an Oscar winner.
But an unthinkable tragedy would soon change her life forever.
That October, Hudson's mother Darnell and her brother Jason
were murdered inside their Chicago home. Her 7 year-old nephew Julian King's body
was found three days later, according to CNN. Her sister Julia's boyfriend, William
Balfour, would ultimately be found guilty on seven counts; three for first-degree murder.
Hudson later opened up about her grief, telling Oprah of her process,
"It literally just takes a part of you, and because there were so many shocks involved in it.
[…] I find myself, one moment, of course I'm gonna think of my mother, […] Julian, and my brother."
"You don't even know who to grieve first." "So, you don't even know — you're confused,
your mind is confused, your feelings are confused, you don't know where to start."
Hudson and her family established The Hudson-King Foundation for Families of Slain Victims,
which was founded to keep memories of their loved ones alive.
When he was just 2 years old, "Cheers" and "Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer's parents divorced.
Then, his grandfather, whom he lived with, died when he was 11. And just two years later,
his father was shot and killed outside of his home. But the devastation didn't stop there.
"My sister Karen is the-is the primary tragedy of my-of my life. The one I carry all the time."
In 1975, Grammer's younger sister, Karen, was brutally kidnapped, sexually assaulted,
and murdered. The deep loss sent him down a dark path that would lead to alcohol and drug abuse,
according to Vanity Fair. Then, in 1980, his half-brothers, Stephen and Billy,
both lost their lives in a diving accident. Later revealing that his
grandfather had considered the family to be cursed, Grammar explained to Oprah,
"Of course, I don't really believe that, but
there's something, something that happened, something that surrounds us.
But even so, Grammer has been able to maintain
a bit of hope in the face of overwhelming tragedy. He said,
"My life has been a chance to change it, so."
"John Wick" actor and notorious "good guy" Keanu Reeves has a reputation for being
kind and positive, despite having a personal life that's been riddled with tragic events.
Back in 1991, Reeves and River Phoenix starred in "My Own Private Idaho" and were
best friends until the latter overdosed in 1993 at just 23 years old. As Reeves told Esquire,
"He was a really special person, so original, unique, smart, talented, fiercely creative.
Thoughtful. Brave. And funny. And dark. And light. It was great to have known him."
"'What's your most lasting memory from making this movie?' Um…yeah. Um, River Phoenix."
Six years later, Reeves and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Syme, suffered the loss of their baby,
who was stillborn. The heartbreak strained their relationship, and they split soon after.
Then, in 2001, Syme died tragically in a car accident.
Touching on his many losses, the actor told Parade,
"All you can do is hope that grief will be transformed and,
instead of feeling pain and confusion, you will be together again in memory,
that there will be solace and pleasure there, not just loss."
"You're resilient. Face some hard facts and you could have an incredible life."
Tyler Perry has brought laughter and joy to millions through
multiple TV series and the beloved "Madea" movies.
But earlier in his life, he experienced significant trauma. According to People,
"He was sexually molested by three different men and a woman by the time he was 10."
"I don't think I've ever felt safe or protected."
Having wrestled with the devastating emotional fallout throughout his teens,
Perry then channeled his pain into his writing. He worked tirelessly throughout the '90s to produce
a play but was met with hardship and rejection. He soon became homeless. As he recalled on Instagram,
"I had nothing. I was so broke and hungry I couldn't afford rent."
Now a billionaire, it was through perseverance and dedication
that the Tyler Perry Studios founder overcame the enormous challenges life threw at him.
He also created The Perry Foundation to quote, "transform tragedy into triumph."
"You can dream it, you can do it, you can believe, you can build anything you want."
Charlize Theron has garnered universal acclaim for her roles in films like "Monster" and "Bombshell."
But prior to her stardom, her life was much less glamorous.
She suffered from jaundice as a child and antibiotics caused her teeth to rot.
Because of this, they needed to be removed. As the actor told The Sun,
"That was tough, you know, being in school having photos taken while I
was pretending I had teeth. It was hideous."
Then in 1991, Theron was 15 years old when her dad drunkenly threatened to kill her and her mother,
Gerda. He fired into his daughter's bedroom, then his wife shot and killed him, according to
ABC News. Gerda was not charged, having acted in self-defense. As Theron later told Indie London,
"It made me realize that life deals you some really nasty cards
and you just have to play them."
"I won't let something like that define me."
Demi Moore rose to fame in the '90s with "Ghost" and "A Few Good Men."
But by then, she had overcome a difficult upbringing.
Moore grew up traumatized by her mother's repeated attempts to kill herself. On one occasion,
she helped to revive her after she overdosed on pills. As she recalled in her book, "Inside Out,"
"The next thing I remember is using my fingers...to dig the pills my mother had
tried to swallow out of her mouth while my father held it open and told me what to do."
Then, when Moore was 15 years old, a man her mother brought home
sexually assaulted her. She moved out on her 16th birthday and married her first husband,
musician Freddy Moore, when she was 18.
"I was figuring it out, like,
by the seat of my pants. The school of, um, fake it 'til you make it."
She would get married two more times — to Bruce Willis,
and then Ashton Kutcher — with both ending in divorce.
She's not afraid to go in for the deep and healing stuff with her guests.
But Oprah Winfrey had to overcome her own obstacles to land her current star status.
Winfrey grew up in rural Mississippi in an impoverished and physically abusive household.
As she shared on her show, she was nine when she was sexually assaulted by her cousin and other
family members. The abuse lasted until she was 14, when she got pregnant. According to The Telegraph,
her baby was born early and did not survive. Winfrey shared in her magazine,
"I went back to school and told no one. My fear was that if I were found out,
I would be expelled. So I carried the secret into my future, always afraid
that if anyone discovered what had happened, they, too, would expel me from their lives."
"I felt like I had been somehow saved."
At 17, Winfrey earned a scholarship to Tennessee State University.
She dropped out when she was offered an anchor position at Nashville's WLAC-TV.
And the rest, as they say, is history. Former Mouseketeer Britney Spears
was thrust into the public eye as a young child. She also grew up with an alcoholic father.
Opening up about her parents, who divorced in 2002, Spears recalled to People,
"My mom and dad, bottom line, do not get along. When I was a baby,
they argued. I wanted [their split] to happen 10 years ago."
After auditioning for Jive Records, Spears landed a contract,
releasing her first album, "Baby One More Time," in 1999. Immediately, she became a
teen celebrity. But the sex symbol branding affected how she actually viewed herself. And
the pressure of stardom began to impact her mental health, as well as her relationships.
"People became fascinated with her sort of unraveling."
Throughout her career, she endured drug abuse, failed relationships, custody battles,
and a restrictive conservatorship — which prompted fans to launch the "Free Britney" movement.
The conservatorship was finally terminated in 2021, according to CNN.
Musician Roy Orbison became a household name in the '60s with hits like "Pretty Woman," "Falling,"
"In Dreams," and "You Got It." But a number of tragedies would impact his life and career.
When he was 30 years old, his wife Claudette died in a tragic motorcycle accident.
And at the time, according to Rolling Stone,
"He found it difficult to write any more songs, but he kept touring."
As the L.A. Times reported, two years later, while he was on tour in England,
two of his children had perished in a fire at his Tennessee home.
Having achieved success despite his sorrows, Orbison died in 1988 at 52 years old.
With an estimated net worth of $400 million,
it might be hard to believe that the "Queen of Country Pop" grew up in a poor,
abusive household. Shania Twain was raised in Canada with four siblings, where her stepdad
was verbally and physically abusive to her and her mother. The singer recalled to ABC News,
"It was the Jekyll and Hyde in him that was the greatest torture. I loved him and I respected so
much what he did for us, being the hard worker, he set a great example. So I'm still left confused."
"I would say I'm a survivor and that is where my comeback spirit comes in, really."
Both of her parents died in a car accident in 1987, which delayed Twain's growing
career and made her younger siblings her priority. As she revealed to "60 Minutes,"
"At that point in my life, I would have rather gone with them.
It's like, this is way too much to handle."
"SVU" star Mariska Hargitay is the daughter of 50s-era Hollywood royalty — actor Jayne
Mansfield. But it wasn't long before her mother was ripped from her life. When Hargitay was
just three years old, she was involved in a car accident that killed Mansfield and two
other adults. Hargitay and her two brothers survived. As she later shared with Glamour,
"I think I learned about crisis very young, and I learned very young that s— happens and
there's no guarantees, and we keep going. And then we transform it."
"I want people to get their light back and their joy back,
cuz we're all born with it and it's our natural right."
Despite the tragedy, Hargitay was able to thrive with the support of her father.
His best advice? She told Good Housekeeping,
"Life is hard, but you just don't quit." Actor Leighton Meester made her career
with "Gossip Girl." But she didn't get to where she is without facing an uphill climb.
Just three years before Leighton was born, her parents Connie and Doug were
arrested for smuggling 1,200 pounds of marijuana. And just when Connie Meester
was set to serve her prison sentence, she had Leighton. As Marie Claire noted,
"She was delivered in a hospital, then transferred to a halfway house for three months,
after which she was sent to live with her grandmother until [Connie's] release."
"I think the important thing is, like, surrounding yourself with people who are true and good."
Leighton grew up poor and often worried about basic necessities like gasoline and food.
And after she found success in entertainment, she never forgot about her family. Still,
according to TMZ, Leighton sued Connie in 2011 for alleged misuse of the $7,500-a-month she
sent to take care of her younger brother. Leighton won the lawsuit, per ABC News.
Industry icon Judy Garland was once one of the biggest names in Hollywood.
But she paid an incredible price for her fame. From a young age,
Garland experienced fierce pressure from her overbearing, controlling mother.
Reportedly, her mom forced her to take amphetamines as early as age four.
The actor was frequently criticized for her image and body size, once telling The Independent,
"They'd give us pills to keep us on our feet long after we were exhausted.
Then they'd take us to the studio hospital and knock us out with sleeping pills."
"There's no place like home. There's no place like home."
Garland was celebrated for her role as Dorothy in 1939's "The Wizard of Oz,"
but she suffered during filming. According to The Independent, MGM controlled nearly
every aspect of her life. As the outlet noted of one MGM co-founder and producer:
"Louis Mayer insisted she live on just black coffee,
chicken soup and lots of appetite-suppressing cigarettes — up to 80 a day, apparently."
Garland worked with MGM at a breakneck pace for 15 years, which quickly took its toll.
According to the Los Angeles Times, at 18, she underwent psychiatric treatments, and she
suffered three nervous breakdowns by the age of 23. Garland's early exposure to drugs also made
her dependent on them throughout her adulthood, which affected her health and relationships. As
the Star Tribune noted, at the time of her death in 1969, she was scraping together just $100
a night singing in bars and had been suffering from a number of health issues.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues,
help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).