Celebrity Parents Who’ve Had To Bury A Child - Page 15
Death is a part of life, but most parents expect to pass before their children. We often say it’s not the natural order of things for a parent to bury a child, but these 15 celebrities know that unnatural pain to well because they each had to suffer through the unthinkable pain of burying a child.
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Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby was once known as one of America’s favorite dads, largely because of his role as Heathcliff Huxtable on the hit television series, “The Cosby Show” and even his appearances on the spinoff, “A Different World.” In real life, the father of five lost his only son, Ennis, in 1997. The 27-year-old Columbia graduate was changing a flat tire on an early January morning when he was murdered. The killer was caught and sentenced to life without parole. The role of Theo Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” played by Malcolm Jahmal Warner, was based on Ennis.
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Sylvester Stallone
Actor Sylvester Stallone has been in the entertainment industry much of his life. Following in the family business, his oldest son, Sage Moonblood, became an actor and film producer. However, his career was cut short last year when he was found dead in his Studio City apartment in California. Initial reports suggested an accidental overdose, but an autopsy confirmed the younger Stallone died from a heart attack. Six weeks after burying his son, Stallone’s sister passed away from cancer.
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John Travolta
In 2009, tragedy struck John Travolta’s family. His son, 16-year-old Jett, passed away suddenly while the family was on Christmas vacation in the Bahamas. Jett, who suffered from seizures, was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease at the age of two. Already grieving over the loss, things went from tragic to criminal for John and his wife, Kelly Preston. A paramedic looking for a payday tried to blackmail the Hollywood couple for a reported $25 million. Not one to be shaken down, John took the paramedic to court. The case ended in mistrial and the couple welcomed son Benjamin in 2010.
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Eric Clapton
Often times a musician draws on personal pain as inspiration for a song. That was the case with Eric Clapton and his song “Tears From Heaven.” In 1991, the guitarist’s 4-year-old son Conor fell out of an open bedroom window of their 53rd floor apartment in Manhattan. Clapton was three years sober when his son died. “I probably would have killed myself if I were actually a practicing alcoholic at the time of his death,” Clapton said. “Who knows what would have happened? I wouldn’t be here now. I doubt I would have survived that.”
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Tameka Foster
Tameka Foster has been embroiled in a nasty custody battle with her ex-husband Usher Raymond but the two managed to set aside their animosity for each other when her son was killed last July. Eleven-year-old Kile was riding an inner tube on Lake Lanier in Georgia when someone on a jet ski struck him. He was declared brain dead and taken off of life support two weeks later. A month after burying her son, the chart-topping R&B singer was awarded custody of their two sons.
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Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson has been through a lot, both during and after his boxing career. One of the most tragic times of his life was losing his daughter, Exodus, in 2009. The 4-year-old girl was playing in the family’s Las Vegas home when the cord to a treadmill machine wrapped around her neck, cutting off her air supply. Her mother found her unresponsive daughter and called 911. Exodus died from her injuries the next day.
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Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre has quietly amassed a fortune with his Beat by Dre headphones but misfortune still found its way into his family. The legendary producer went through a dark period after his 20-year-old son overdosed. Andre Young, Jr. was unresponsive when his mother found him the next morning after a night of partying back in August of 2008. A coroner’s report confirmed Young died from a lethal combination of heroin and morphine.
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Marie Osmond
Marie Osmond grew up as part of an entertainment family so she is used to living in the limelight. The actress and country singer had to publicly mourn for the loss of her son. Michael suffered from depression most of his life and had been in and out of rehabilitation since he was 12 years old. Still fighting with his demons, the 18-year-old committed suicide by jumping out of the 8th floor balcony of his apartment in Los Angeles. There were no drugs found in his system.
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Xzibit
Rapper Xzibit has been in the music industry since the mid-90’s, landing his own show as as the host of MTV’s “Pimp My Ride.” The “What’s The Difference” rapper took a long hiatus in between albums, not because of acting gigs, but for a very personal reason. In 2008, his son was born months prematurely and unfortunately died a couple weeks later. “Xavier Kingston was my second born son and he passed away prematurely,” said Xzibit. “He lived for 13 days then he passed. Not only was it devastating to me but to my girl. It [is]something that you just can’t just up and [say], ‘Oh well, guess I better go tour.’ It ain’t like that. You know? So sometimes you have to disconnect yourself from that.”
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Carol Burnett
Comedian Carol Burnett has been making audiences laugh since the 60’s but the funny woman suffered a very serious and tragic loss in her family when her oldest daughter passed away. Thirty-eight-year-old Carol, who followed her mother’s footsteps into the entertainment industry, died of lung and brain cancer in 2002. The comedian has admitted that she has never gotten over the loss of her child. “You learn to cope,” said Carol. “I would rather have had her with me than to never have known her.”
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Vince Neil
Motley Crue member Vince Neil has been a world-famous rock star since the 80’s. But things haven’t always been the greatest for Neil. In 1995, the musician’s four-year-old daughter Skylar passed away from cancer. Doing something positive with such a heartbreaking tragedy, he founded the Skylar Neil Foundation which focuses on providing awareness and funding for various childhood diseases. Through their hard work, they raised millions for the T.J. Martell Foundation and sponsors an annual golf tournament to raise money for children with cancer.
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Juvenile
New Orleans rapper Juvenile grew up in a crime-riddled neighborhood but used his music as a means to escape the drugs and violence that he grew up around. Unfortunately, his 4-year-old daughter Jelani couldn’t escape the violence. Her 17-year-old half brother Anthony Tyrone Terrell went on a killing spree and killed his mother and 11-year-old sister, too. Juvenile revealed how he has coped with the tragedy. “Time, man,” he said. “You don’t get over things like that. That’s something that goes with you for the rest of your life. I don’t know, man, just time to yourself.”
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Anna Nicole Smith
Anna Nicole Smith was a true rags to riches story. After her humble beginnings in Harris County, Texas, as Vickie Lynn Hogan, the Playboy Playmate of the Year achieved money and fame as a model, reality show star, and a adult dancer turned millionaire’s wife. But even with all of her success, Anna had her own demons. She never fully recovered from the sudden death of her 20-year-old son Daniel, who overdosed three days after his little sister was born. Just a few months after burying her son, Anna was found dead of an overdose in her Florida hotel room.
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Mia Farrow
Actress Mia Farrow has always loved a big family. The Rosemary’s Baby star opened her heart and home to 11 adopted children in addition to having four biological children of her own. Farrow’s large family suffered a loss when her 19-year-old adopted daughter, Tam, died of heart failure in 2000. Eight years later, Mia would bury another child. Thirty-five-year-old Lark Previn passed away on Christmas Day after a long illness.
