[Music]
sometimes inspiration can come from the
darkest of places River Phoenix died
that night an autopsy would show he
overdosed on a combination of cocaine
and heroin welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’re counting down our picks for
the top 10 celebrities who had tragic
childhoods and you realize circumstances
somehow worked out for you they didn’t
work out for everybody else in the world
that if that doesn’t ground you for this
list will only be looking at famous
people who lived through hellish
experiences growing up which means we’re
excluding celebrities like Keanu Reeves
and Jennifer Hudson who experienced
tragedy a little later in life as that
is a list for another day saying the
words my family was murdered
makes it real number 10
Woody Harrelson thank God for rednecks
this is a really big truck and these are
really big guns
some people’s fathers have conventional
jobs like a lawyer and accountant but
Woody Harrelson’s father preferred the
art of killing as a professional hitman
I suppose I do have some kind of thing
that’s really connected to my father
that way um but I like to think I’m a
pretty peaceful guy Charles Harrison
wasn’t just any hit man though he gained
notoriety as the first person to kill a
federal judge in the 20th century and
when he claimed to be part of the JFK
assassination but the FBI called BS on
his claims I have deep regrets about a
lot of things but I’m only ashamed of
one thing I’ve ever done and that was
put cocaine at my nose but I didn’t kill
judge wood what he didn’t really know
his father because he went on to serve a
life sentence but we have to assume he
drew some inspiration from him when he
got a part in Natural Born Killers as a
a serial killer I mean I came from
violence using my blood my dad had it
his dad had it so just my family fate
boy number nine Shania Twain that don’t
impress me much she may have the voice
of an angel but her childhood was less
than heavenly growing up in a family of
five kids meant her family was poor and
that Shania often went to school hungry
you live under that fear and in silence
and there may not even be one other
person you share that with Twain also
saw her father abused her mother which
was a scary thing for a child to
experience when her parents died in a
car accident in 1987 it left the 22 year
old alone to take care of her younger
siblings you know I did take some
responsibility for my brothers and my
sister who had moved in with me they
were really young when my parents died
my brothers were 13 and 14 2008 a
l’instant able and even if it wasn’t the
best of circumstances
Shania’s upbringing pushed her to where
she is today
[Music]
I
number eight to me more I think I’ve
always been a little more mature do you
think because you’ve traveled around so
much when you were growing up I’m maybe
that has something to do with it I’m
sure it does her life has been filled
with ups and downs but her childhood was
especially sad de meme or was cross-eyed
as a child which required two corrective
surgeries and she suffered from kidney
dysfunction her biological father left
before Moore was born so her mother
Virginia and stepfather Dan ginés
raised her unfortunately
they constantly fought and drank and
ultimately separated when de mie was 16
two years later the only father Moore
had ever known her stepfather Dan
committed suicide even when de mie was a
young adult she tried to help her mother
paying for Virginia’s rehab stint but
when she refused the treatment de mie
cut off contact with her they would only
briefly reconcile when Virginia was
dying of cancer in 1998
[Music]
number 7 Leighton Meester
[Music]
leighton meester had a less than
conventional upbringing starting at the
moment of her birth during her mother
constance –is pregnancy with leighton
she was serving a prison sentence when
it came time to give birth Constance was
allowed to deliver in a hospital but for
the next three months Leighton was
nursed by her mother in a halfway house
after which her grandmother took care of
her
Constance then returned to prison to
complete her sentence for drug smuggling
her parents did manage to get their life
back on track after some time but a
start like that obviously wasn’t easy
yeah not the king of the six precincts
number six Ashley Judd and I grew up in
some really extreme situations Judd has
never shied away from sharing about her
experience as a rape and sexual assault
victim and has also used her celebrity
to raise awareness and fight back when
she released her memoir in 2011 she
revealed the secrets of her turbulent
childhood
[Music]
being the daughter of country star and I
only Jud made for a dysfunctional
upbringing the family constantly moved
while Naomi and Ashley’s sister Winona
chased Fame
Ashley was also exposed to her family’s
drug use and her mother’s toxic
relationships becoming a victim of abuse
and molestation and leading her to have
thoughts of suicide so if its childhood
sexual abuse because you were molested
as we found out in the book do your
trauma healing do your work find a
12-step program and then go out in the
world in your community and work with
other survivors of childhood sexual
abuse
today Judd is a proud justice warrior
using her experience to protect others
from similar fates and a tremendous
amount of grief and trauma work which is
essential for the victim to take that
journey from dependent victim who is
impaired in multiple ways to an
empowered survivor who can advocate her
own best interests and change her family
in her community number five
Joaquin Phoenix and what’s with the
black is depressing
looks like he going to a funeral maybe I
know him we wish being born into an
organization some people call a
Christian cult had been the worst of
Joaquin’s woes but is one of five
children he also had to perform
musically on the streets with his
siblings to keep his family off the
streets make it so I told his brother
Brian what was the secret you want to
tell the story alright go ahead
no you tell it eventually he and his
siblings achieved varying levels of
success but it came at a price just
three days after his 19th birthday on
October 31st 1993 while Keane watched
his older brother River die of a drug
overdose outside of an LA nightclub
seeing a loved one pass away right in
front of you as traumatic enough but TV
and radio stations soon repeatedly
broadcast his harrowing 911 causing
Joaquin to take a brief break from
showbiz down the line with being calm
down
number four Charlize Theron most
teenagers worry about school and making
friends but when Charlize Theron’s was
15 she had very different fears her
father Charles Darren was an alcoholic
and on the night of June 21st 1991 he
threatened both his wife and his
daughter this forced her mother Gerta to
fatally shoot her husband and wound his
brother she has a resilience about her
that that I’ve never come across in any
other human being having your father
attack you and then seeing him die is
pretty horrific but Charlie’s also
learned that her mom had her back no
matter what and we can’t help but think
that as devastating as this undoubtedly
was it gave Charlize the experience she
needed to portray powerful women on the
silver screen
and I was just never gonna define myself
as a victim or and maybe that’s what I
love about my characters you know
they’re not victims and they don’t try
to lean on those crutches
number three Oprah Winfrey and the fact
that you were abused yourself and and
you survived I don’t know how you did
but you did
Oprah’s life seems to have come straight
out of a novel growing up in a very poor
household in Mississippi she was beaten
with a stick as a form of corporal
punishment for bad behavior she was
molested by family members and family
friends beginning at age nine and got
pregnant at 14 but the premature baby
died
soon after being born and I remember
having a moment thinking now I am
officially a bad girl this resulted in
her being sent to live with the man she
considered her father something that
Oprah saw as a second chance I walked
into that space feeling completely alone
and abandoned with no explanation of why
I was being sent away as such she turned
her life around
over the next few
years ultimately building an entire
empire out of nothing and going on to
become the wealthiest african-american
of the 20th century
number two Ray Charles at the tender age
of five Charles saw his older brother
drown
[Music]
by that time he had already started to
lose his sight to what’s been attributed
as glaucoma but it was completely gone
by the time he was 7 most mothers might
coddle their child if they went blind
but not Aretha Robinson she I used to do
almost everything any other kid did I
used to wash dishes scrub the floors
aiyo and and in those days we had a wood
stove and I used to go out and cut wood
with an axe
she still had rage shop wood and never
let him use his vision as an excuse in
fact it’s because of her encouragement
that Charles got into music after she
put him in a school for the deaf and
blind promise me promise me you never
let nobody turn you to know crippled you
won’t become no charity case then you
stand on your own two feet
even though Aretha never got to see
Charles succeed as she died when he was
just 14 Rae turned his tragic past into
something beautiful by pioneering soul
music
[Music]
Oh
ah
[Music]
before we get to our top pick here are
some honorable mentions yeah when I was
15 years old
my mother was murdered by her boyfriend
at the time
I feel the horror of the hands of the
molesters who are trying to rob you of
who you are my lost my mom was like
eight so I didn’t really understand at
that point number one Kelsey Grammer
when I called and told him about Karen
he just said this family’s cursed of
course I don’t really believe that but
there’s something he almost
Shakespearean tragedies that befell
Kelsey Grammer started when he was just
13 when his father Frank was shot by a
crazed lunatic in front of his home it’s
flattened all the things I had it took
them out faith a mere seven years later
his 18 year old sister Karen was
abducted raped and brutally murdered to
make matters even worse Kelsey was
forced to identify her body she was a
terrific kid she’s a wonderful wonderful
person I miss her all the time and is I
accept that you actually live with
remorse every day of your life but I
live with tragedy every day of mine
the tragedy doesn’t end there though as
five years later Kelsey’s half-brothers
died in a freak scuba diving accident
despite all of these tragedies happening
before he was even 25 Grammer was
ultimately able to persevere and find
success as an actor comedian and more
thank you for honoring my life just wish
I knew what to do with the rest of it do
you agree with our list which celebrity
do you think had the saddest story I was
waiting for my dealer to arrive at the
time he broke down my door and actually
saved my life for more celebrity top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
I really regret the fact that I my
mother didn’t have a chance to see me
become where I am
yeah
[Music]
sometimes inspiration can come from the
darkest of places River Phoenix died
that night an autopsy would show he
overdosed on a combination of cocaine
and heroin welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’re counting down our picks for
the top 10 celebrities who had tragic
childhoods and you realize circumstances
somehow worked out for you they didn’t
work out for everybody else in the world
that if that doesn’t ground you for this
list will only be looking at famous
people who lived through hellish
experiences growing up which means we’re
excluding celebrities like Keanu Reeves
and Jennifer Hudson who experienced
tragedy a little later in life as that
is a list for another day saying the
words my family was murdered
makes it real number 10
Woody Harrelson thank God for rednecks
this is a really big truck and these are
really big guns
some people’s fathers have conventional
jobs like a lawyer and accountant but
Woody Harrelson’s father preferred the
art of killing as a professional hitman
I suppose I do have some kind of thing
that’s really connected to my father
that way um but I like to think I’m a
pretty peaceful guy Charles Harrison
wasn’t just any hit man though he gained
notoriety as the first person to kill a
federal judge in the 20th century and
when he claimed to be part of the JFK
assassination but the FBI called BS on
his claims I have deep regrets about a
lot of things but I’m only ashamed of
one thing I’ve ever done and that was
put cocaine at my nose but I didn’t kill
judge wood what he didn’t really know
his father because he went on to serve a
life sentence but we have to assume he
drew some inspiration from him when he
got a part in Natural Born Killers as a
a serial killer I mean I came from
violence using my blood my dad had it
his dad had it so just my family fate
boy number nine Shania Twain that don’t
impress me much she may have the voice
of an angel but her childhood was less
than heavenly growing up in a family of
five kids meant her family was poor and
that Shania often went to school hungry
you live under that fear and in silence
and there may not even be one other
person you share that with Twain also
saw her father abused her mother which
was a scary thing for a child to
experience when her parents died in a
car accident in 1987 it left the 22 year
old alone to take care of her younger
siblings you know I did take some
responsibility for my brothers and my
sister who had moved in with me they
were really young when my parents died
my brothers were 13 and 14 2008 a
l’instant able and even if it wasn’t the
best of circumstances
Shania’s upbringing pushed her to where
she is today
[Music]
I
number eight to me more I think I’ve
always been a little more mature do you
think because you’ve traveled around so
much when you were growing up I’m maybe
that has something to do with it I’m
sure it does her life has been filled
with ups and downs but her childhood was
especially sad de meme or was cross-eyed
as a child which required two corrective
surgeries and she suffered from kidney
dysfunction her biological father left
before Moore was born so her mother
Virginia and stepfather Dan ginés
raised her unfortunately
they constantly fought and drank and
ultimately separated when de mie was 16
two years later the only father Moore
had ever known her stepfather Dan
committed suicide even when de mie was a
young adult she tried to help her mother
paying for Virginia’s rehab stint but
when she refused the treatment de mie
cut off contact with her they would only
briefly reconcile when Virginia was
dying of cancer in 1998
[Music]
number 7 Leighton Meester
[Music]
leighton meester had a less than
conventional upbringing starting at the
moment of her birth during her mother
constance –is pregnancy with leighton
she was serving a prison sentence when
it came time to give birth Constance was
allowed to deliver in a hospital but for
the next three months Leighton was
nursed by her mother in a halfway house
after which her grandmother took care of
her
Constance then returned to prison to
complete her sentence for drug smuggling
her parents did manage to get their life
back on track after some time but a
start like that obviously wasn’t easy
yeah not the king of the six precincts
number six Ashley Judd and I grew up in
some really extreme situations Judd has
never shied away from sharing about her
experience as a rape and sexual assault
victim and has also used her celebrity
to raise awareness and fight back when
she released her memoir in 2011 she
revealed the secrets of her turbulent
childhood
[Music]
being the daughter of country star and I
only Jud made for a dysfunctional
upbringing the family constantly moved
while Naomi and Ashley’s sister Winona
chased Fame
Ashley was also exposed to her family’s
drug use and her mother’s toxic
relationships becoming a victim of abuse
and molestation and leading her to have
thoughts of suicide so if its childhood
sexual abuse because you were molested
as we found out in the book do your
trauma healing do your work find a
12-step program and then go out in the
world in your community and work with
other survivors of childhood sexual
abuse
today Judd is a proud justice warrior
using her experience to protect others
from similar fates and a tremendous
amount of grief and trauma work which is
essential for the victim to take that
journey from dependent victim who is
impaired in multiple ways to an
empowered survivor who can advocate her
own best interests and change her family
in her community number five
Joaquin Phoenix and what’s with the
black is depressing
looks like he going to a funeral maybe I
know him we wish being born into an
organization some people call a
Christian cult had been the worst of
Joaquin’s woes but is one of five
children he also had to perform
musically on the streets with his
siblings to keep his family off the
streets make it so I told his brother
Brian what was the secret you want to
tell the story alright go ahead
no you tell it eventually he and his
siblings achieved varying levels of
success but it came at a price just
three days after his 19th birthday on
October 31st 1993 while Keane watched
his older brother River die of a drug
overdose outside of an LA nightclub
seeing a loved one pass away right in
front of you as traumatic enough but TV
and radio stations soon repeatedly
broadcast his harrowing 911 causing
Joaquin to take a brief break from
showbiz down the line with being calm
down
number four Charlize Theron most
teenagers worry about school and making
friends but when Charlize Theron’s was
15 she had very different fears her
father Charles Darren was an alcoholic
and on the night of June 21st 1991 he
threatened both his wife and his
daughter this forced her mother Gerta to
fatally shoot her husband and wound his
brother she has a resilience about her
that that I’ve never come across in any
other human being having your father
attack you and then seeing him die is
pretty horrific but Charlie’s also
learned that her mom had her back no
matter what and we can’t help but think
that as devastating as this undoubtedly
was it gave Charlize the experience she
needed to portray powerful women on the
silver screen
and I was just never gonna define myself
as a victim or and maybe that’s what I
love about my characters you know
they’re not victims and they don’t try
to lean on those crutches
number three Oprah Winfrey and the fact
that you were abused yourself and and
you survived I don’t know how you did
but you did
Oprah’s life seems to have come straight
out of a novel growing up in a very poor
household in Mississippi she was beaten
with a stick as a form of corporal
punishment for bad behavior she was
molested by family members and family
friends beginning at age nine and got
pregnant at 14 but the premature baby
died
soon after being born and I remember
having a moment thinking now I am
officially a bad girl this resulted in
her being sent to live with the man she
considered her father something that
Oprah saw as a second chance I walked
into that space feeling completely alone
and abandoned with no explanation of why
I was being sent away as such she turned
her life around
over the next few
years ultimately building an entire
empire out of nothing and going on to
become the wealthiest african-american
of the 20th century
number two Ray Charles at the tender age
of five Charles saw his older brother
drown
[Music]
by that time he had already started to
lose his sight to what’s been attributed
as glaucoma but it was completely gone
by the time he was 7 most mothers might
coddle their child if they went blind
but not Aretha Robinson she I used to do
almost everything any other kid did I
used to wash dishes scrub the floors
aiyo and and in those days we had a wood
stove and I used to go out and cut wood
with an axe
she still had rage shop wood and never
let him use his vision as an excuse in
fact it’s because of her encouragement
that Charles got into music after she
put him in a school for the deaf and
blind promise me promise me you never
let nobody turn you to know crippled you
won’t become no charity case then you
stand on your own two feet
even though Aretha never got to see
Charles succeed as she died when he was
just 14 Rae turned his tragic past into
something beautiful by pioneering soul
music
[Music]
Oh
ah
[Music]
before we get to our top pick here are
some honorable mentions yeah when I was
15 years old
my mother was murdered by her boyfriend
at the time
I feel the horror of the hands of the
molesters who are trying to rob you of
who you are my lost my mom was like
eight so I didn’t really understand at
that point number one Kelsey Grammer
when I called and told him about Karen
he just said this family’s cursed of
course I don’t really believe that but
there’s something he almost
Shakespearean tragedies that befell
Kelsey Grammer started when he was just
13 when his father Frank was shot by a
crazed lunatic in front of his home it’s
flattened all the things I had it took
them out faith a mere seven years later
his 18 year old sister Karen was
abducted raped and brutally murdered to
make matters even worse Kelsey was
forced to identify her body she was a
terrific kid she’s a wonderful wonderful
person I miss her all the time and is I
accept that you actually live with
remorse every day of your life but I
live with tragedy every day of mine
the tragedy doesn’t end there though as
five years later Kelsey’s half-brothers
died in a freak scuba diving accident
despite all of these tragedies happening
before he was even 25 Grammer was
ultimately able to persevere and find
success as an actor comedian and more
thank you for honoring my life just wish
I knew what to do with the rest of it do
you agree with our list which celebrity
do you think had the saddest story I was
waiting for my dealer to arrive at the
time he broke down my door and actually
saved my life for more celebrity top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
I really regret the fact that I my
mother didn’t have a chance to see me
become where I am
yeah
[Music]
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