Celebrities Who Lived Tragic Lives

#1 Judy Garland

Judy Garland, or Francis Gumm, lived a life common in her time, but on an entirely different level. She was forced to perform as a toddler by her pushy mother. By the age of 13, she was signed to MGM, where the real trouble began. She was harassed by those in position but eventually married as a teen to an older man. She soon became pregnant and wanted to keep the child, but her husband, producer, and mother urged her to get an abortion to keep her image. She also was put on a strict diet and forced to smoke cigarettes to keep her figure. She, along with co-stars, was also forced to work 72-hour shifts (made possible by drugs) followed by drug-induced naps to keep them alive.

The same people that did this sexually harassed her at work as well as demeaned her. After ending it with her first husband, she caught two of her later husbands in bed with other men, one of them in bed with her daughter’s husband. Because of all of this, her later years were crowded with anger and drug abuse of her own.

#2 Jennifer Hudson

You can hear in Jennifer Hudson’s songs that she’s been through a lot. But have you ever wondered what happened to her? Well, in 2008, she had three loved ones taken from her on the same day. Her mother, brother, and seven-year-old nephew were all shot and killed by a murderer. She claims the only thing that kept her from killing herself was that she found out she was pregnant not long after. He’s been her life source ever since.

Want to hear the worst part? Jennifer’s brother-in-law was charged with the murders! He’s serving three life sentences as we speak. She forgives him and says she doesn’t blame him. He was never taught how to love, and they weren’t strong enough to teach him themselves as a family. Wow!

#3 Oprah Winfrey

Most people actually do know about Oprah’s history. It all started when she was ten years old and a relative started sexually abusing her. This continued until she was 14 and became pregnant due to it. Somehow, giving birth, Oprah was excited to meet her child, to love him. But…she would never get to do that as he was stillborn, due to the age of Oprah, of the year it was, and possibly due to the fact that it was an inbred child.

Her own parents were young and naïve in the segregated south. Poverty stricken, her mother eventually had to go away to work and she was left with her grandmother. However, the year her grandmother died, the abuse began. She herself was so naïve she literally did not know what pregnancy was or why she was getting bigger. Soon after, she went to work as a news anchor, and from there out it was history. She lives today believing her life of poverty, void of lover made her successful.

#4 Keanu Reeves

There are many tragic tales circulating the Internet regarding Keanu Reeves but many of them are not true. Saying that many are. When he was about three, his father left him and his mother alone with his siblings. This trauma also possibly caused him to suffer from dyslexia. But regardless of being raised by a single mother in the 70s, his childhood was fairly normal.

However, he was a very close friend of River Phoenix who died at 23 from a drug overdose. This nearly broke Reeves. Six years later, his girlfriend Jennifer Syme gave birth to a stillborn child. The stress of this broke their relationship. But even if it hadn’t, it would have been over soon as about a year later, Jennifer died in a car accident.

Oh yes, before River even died, Reeves’ sister was diagnosed with leukemia. But this one has shown nothing but positivity as he has a private foundation that donates to the fight for women everywhere.

#5 Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix was present at the time his brother, River Phoenix, died in 1993 outside of The Viper Room in Los Angeles. A young Joaquin was the one to call 911 that night. The actor had this to say about his brother's death to the Toledo Blade in 2000, "After River's death, I felt like I was in an altered state. It took me over a year to get my life back... Dealing with death is always difficult, but suffering in public adds a whole new dimension."

#6 Charlize Theron

This Oscar winning actress is such a charming person, so gracious and elegant that one might assume she comes from a wealthy and refined family, rich parents and that her childhood was something of a fairytale. Well, one couldn’t be more wrong.

Charlize actually grew up in a South African farming community and her childhood was so disastrous that she might as well sell her story as a scenario for some horror/thriller low budget movie.

Her father was no gentlemen. No sir. In fact, he was an abusive, aggressive, bipolar monster. He would often torture Charlize and her mother, both mentally and physically. But one day she saw the end of this torment, in a rather cruel and unspeakable way.

When Charlize was only 15 years old, she witnessed her mother shoot her father in self-defense after he attacked them both and threatened to kill them right there on the spot.

A year after this tragic experience she moved to Milan to start her modeling career and two years after that, 18-year-old Charlize arrived in Hollywood with one suitcase, $400 cash and one bucket full of hopes and dreams.

She wanted to make it in the movie business. Ten years later, Charlize won an Oscar for Best Actress in the movie called “Monster”. In some strange and symbolically ironic way, justice has been served.

#7 Mariska Hargitay

Olivia Benson is tough as nails on screen, and the real Mariska Hargitay has dealt with some pretty tragic events in her own life that show how tough she is, too. When Hargitay was only three years old, she was in the backseat of the car that killed her mother, iconic screen actress, Jayne Mansfield. Mansfield was only 34 at the time, and Hargitay says that event changed her life. She told Redbook in 2009, "Losing my mother at such an early age is the scar of my soul... But I feel like it ultimately made me into the person I am today. I understand the journey of life. I had to go through what I did to be here."

#8 Jack Nicholson

On April 22, 1937 in Neptune, New Jersey, a woman called June Nicholson, an aspiring 19 year old actress, brought a young boy to this world and named him Jack.

Today we all know this baby as the famous Jack Nicholson. But what was so shocking and possibly tragic about Jack’s childhood?

Well, up until he was 37 years old, Jack was raised to think June was his sister.

Unmarried and unsure of who the father of her bundle of joy was, and since she wanted to make it in the movie business, June let her parents (Jack’s grandparents, obviously) take care of him and raise him like their own son.

June died of cancer in 1963, when Jack Nicholson was 26 years old and more than a decade after her death, back in 1974, the TIME magazine reporter, researching a cover story on the legendary actor, discovered this shocking information.

Nicholson, however, stated that, even though he found this news quite shocking, he wasn’t traumatized by this discovery. In fact, he felt relieved.

“I’d say it was a pretty dramatic event, but it wasn’t what I’d call traumatizing. After all, by the time I found out who my mother was, I was pretty well psychologically formed. As a matter of fact, it made quite a few things clearer to me. If anything, I felt grateful.”

#9 Marilyn Monroe

She’s one of the most iconic faces in the world, but Marilyn Monroe had a very troubled life. Before she became the most popular actress of the 1950s, she endured sexual abuse, living in foster homes, and failed marriages. When she was just seven, her single mother was hospitalized after being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. Marilyn, known as Norma Jean at the time, then spent the next few years in various foster homes. While in one of these foster homes, the young Norma Jean was sexually abused. At the age of 16, she got married to escape going to another foster home. But, the marriage ended shortly after when her husband joined the Marines. This would be the first of her three divorces within her lifetime. Even after Marilyn experienced success as an actress, her troubled life kept her up at night and she eventually became addicted to drugs, leading to her tragic death in 1962.

#10 Shania Twain

The beautiful and talented country singer, Shania Twain had a tragic childhood. Her parents went through financial hardship, struggling to take care of their five kids. Shania says she often went to school hungry, making it difficult for her to concentrate. Her stepfather, Jerry, constantly abused her mother. In an interview with ABC News, Shania recalled one day when Jerry plunged her mother’s head into the toilet. She thought her mother was dead. Her stepfather was also verbally abusive towards Shania, which baffled her. In 1987, at the age of 22, both her parents were killed in a car crash. Shania was then left to take care of her younger siblings, performing at a resort to earn money. Once her siblings grew up, Shania put together a demo tape which caught the attention of record labels. She didn’t have to worry about money after that.

#11 Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey makes us all laugh with his silly faces and comedic performances. But, when he was growing up, the future actor and comedian didn’t have it easy. His father lost his job as an accountant when Jim was 14 years old, putting the family through financially hard times. Jim, who was a good student, started working eight-hour shifts after school and his grades dropped as a result. They eventually had to move into a camper van and Jim began pursuing comedy. His debut show, at the age of 15, was at Toronto’s Yuk Yuk’s club. Though the show was less than successful, Jim persisted and eventually became a regular at Toronto clubs. He dropped out of school at the age of 16 to become a full-time comedian. Fortunately, things worked out for Jim and he doesn’t have to worry about money again.

#12 Kanye West

In 2002, Kanye West was involved in a near-fatal car accident which left him with a shattered jaw. In 2007, his mother, Donda West, passed away suddenly after suffering multiple postoperative complications after plastic surgery. "It was like losing an arm and a leg and trying to walk through that," West said of the loss of his mother.

#13 Marie Osmond

In 1999, Marie Osmond revealed that she suffered from severe postpartum depression after the birth of her son Matthew. In 2007, she was devastated by the death of her father George Osmond, who had 9 children and 55 grandchildren. In 2010, Osmond's son, Michael, committed suicide at age 18, jumping from an eighth-floor window.

#14 John F. Kennedy, Jr.

John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s father, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated on November 22, 1963. His uncle, Robert Kennedy, was assassinated on June 6, 1968. In 1974, his cousin, David Kennedy, died at age 28 from an overdose of cocaine, Demerol, and Mellaril. In 1997, David's brother, Michael Kennedy, died in a skiing accident at age 39. JFK Jr. died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999, along with his wife, Carolyn Jeanne Bessette.