1. Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron (born 7 August 1975 in Benoni, South Africa) is a South African actress best known for her versatility. She won the Academy Award for best actress in Oscar in 2003 for her portrayal of a real-life serial killer in Monsters. With an impressive array of movies and TV shows, Charlize Theron is one of the most famous and talented people in Hollywood.
Theron grew up on a farm near Benoni, South Africa. While growing up on a farm in beautiful South Africa may sound like a quiet childhood, it’s far from the truth. Charlize’s father became addicted to alcohol and became increasingly violent toward his family. At the age of 13, in order to continue her ballet studies, she began attending a boarding school that specialized in teaching art.
When she was 15, tragedy happened, her mother shot and killed her father in self-defense after being attacked by him while he was drunk. One night, when her alcoholic father came home with his brother after drinking heavily, he threatened her mother with a gun. He started shooting, and Theron’s mother returned fire with her gun, killing Theron’s father and wounding his brother. Fortunately, local police were aware of Mr. Theron’s abuse and declared it a case of self-defense. Gerda was not charged with any crime, but the trauma of what had happened that night would never be forgotten.
For a long time, she told people that her father had lost his life in a car accident, keeping the truth to herself and letting it eat away at her. “I just pretended it didn’t happen. I didn’t tell anyone, and I don’t want to tell anyone.” Theron said, “Whenever anyone asks me, I say my dad died in a car accident. Who wants to tell the story? No one wants to tell the story.”
At the age of 16, Theron moved to Milan to work as a model. Two years later, she settled in New York City, continued to model and began studying at the Joffrey Ballet School. However, a knee injury cost her a dancing career, and she tried, unsuccessfully, to pursue an acting career.
Theron eventually moved to Hollywood, where she was discovered by an agent when she made a scene at a bank when she was refused to cash a check. Being strong-willed is nothing new for Theron. In a New York times story, Theron recounted one of the most painful moments of her life: her mother killed her father in self-defense.
For teenage Theron, the fallout was worse than the incident, as her family life was in turmoil. “It was my whole childhood,” Theron says. “That was my trauma.” Though she doesn’t link all those roles back to what she went through as a teen, she also adds, “I mean, you’d be an idiot not to put it together….”
The actress also revealed that the incident — and her mother’s reaction to the violence and abuse — ultimately led her to seek challenging, complex roles in the films. One obvious example is that she won an Oscar for playing serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s “Monster”, who claimed her killings were due to being raped when she was a prostitute.
For her terrible trauma in childhood, Theron said, “I survived that, and I’m proud of that. I’ve worked hard for that, too. And I am not scared of that. I am not fearful of the darkness. If anything, I am intrigued by it, because I think it explains human nature and people better.”
In 2012 and 2015, she became a single mother of two adopted children, one of whom revealed to her that she was transgender. Charlize is very supportive of her two daughters — something she learned from her mother years ago. Charlize said, “I have an incredible mother… She’s a huge inspiration in my life,” “I am lucky enough that I had a great mom who really kind of made me brave and always told me to be brave,” she said. “I don’t know who I might have been without that.”
2. Mariska Hartigay
Mariska Hartigay, star of NBC’s Law abd Order: SVU overcame a tragedy earlier in her life to get where she is today — right atop the Hollywood mountain.
Hargitay was born into a famous family. Her father, Mickey Hargitay, was a Hungarian-born actor and one-time Mr. Universe winner (Mr. Universe, now called Universe Championships, is an international bodybuilding competition). Mariska Hargitay’s mother was the famous film star Jayne Mansfield, was a sex symbol in the ’50s and ’60s, so drama runs in her blood.
On June 29, 1967, Hargitay’s mother, actress Jayne Mansfield, was killed in a car accident. To this day, there are still rumors that the actress was beheaded in the accident. In fact, she suffered severe head trauma, but it did not separate from her body.
Hargitay, who was three years old at the time, said her mom’s passing led her to believe the worst would always happen. However, her mother’s death is not the only sad thing for her, her family home was robbed not long after her mother’s death and her jewelry was stolen.
In 2014, the robbers contacted Mariska and offered to sell her what they had stolen. Mariska was forced to buy back all her late mother’s fine jewelry. After her mother’s death, Mariska
struggled to overcome her tragic loss. Things became more and more difficult to deal with when people started spreading horrible rumors about the way her mother had died. These were sparked because her mother’s wig was removed during the accident.
Mariska has always been open and honest about her experiences, battling anxiety and low self-esteem. She said she became acutely aware of never knowing her mother while the rest of the world knew her so well.
After her mother’s death, Hargitay was raised by her model father and his new wife, who also raised her two brothers and three half siblings.
This caused her to miss some events because she was sure that others would not miss her. Although it is an ongoing struggle. Mansfield and Hagtigay, and Mariska’s father remarried after Mansfield died. Mariska nearly lost her beloved stepmother, flight attendant Ellen Siano, in a plane crash. Mariska adores her and has said that she isn’t sure she’d still be alive without her.
Mariska didn’t become famous until she was 35. In her early life, she ran up six-figure debts. Mariska also repaid her ex-boyfriend $64,000 she owed him for paying her living expenses during their time together.
In the happiest days of her life, tragedy struck. When her father, Mickey Hargitay, died of a very serious form of cancer in 2006, Mariska had to endure the loss of his father. She had given birth to her first child just weeks before he died.
The most important thing about Mariska is that she stays optimistic. “The message I got from my father was that life is hard, but you just don’t quit. I am grateful that I didn’t let fear get the best of me…” Mariska is more than just a pretty face. While studying hard at university and trying to become an actress, she also taught herself three languages. Besides English, she is fluent in French, Hungarian and Italian.
Although Mariska has gone through countless difficulties, she has had her moments of triumph. In 1999, she played Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The show has been a huge success, running for more than 20 seasons. They’ve made over 400 episodes, and people can’t get enough of them! Despite hardships no one should face, Mariska has done well for herself.
When it comes to overcoming your dark side and bringing a positive side to life, Hargitay says, “Learning into my loss has been a way of getting myself back. I’m not saying it’s easy, and it certainly hasn’t been for me. There’s been a lot of darkness. But on the other side things can be so bright.”
Mariska Hargitay has now been married for thirteen years to actor Peter Hermnn, who she refers to as her “other half.” The two share three kids together, and are happier than ever.
3. Eninem
Controversial rapper Eminem is one of the most respected forces in the music industry, though he often raises eyebrows. More impressively, Eminem managed to sustain his career for decades, but he overcame a number of obstacles in his life.
Born as Marshall Bruce Mathers in 1972, the young Eminem had little connection with his father, who moved away when he was very young. Marshall’s childhood revolved between the public housing systems of Kansas City and Detroit. Often appearing as the “new kid” and often one of only a few white kids, Marshall began to stand on the sidelines at an early age, often leading to bullying. Meanwhile, “home” is proving to be just as difficult. His mother showed signs of mental illness, so it fell to Marshall to take care of his younger brother.
Eminem fought all his life, whether it was a lawsuit or a public fight, but his biggest battle came as a child, a moment that shaped his career not just as a rapper but as a person.
Speaking of bullying, Eminem had little safety in high school because he was often stuffed into lockers, cornered in hallways and beaten in the bathroom. Despite this, Eminem is generally considered to be an intelligent child who is poor in all subjects except English. He liked to read comics, and he discovered the power of words by constantly looking them up in the dictionary.
He was often bullied as a child, and once fell into a coma for nearly a week. After his family moved to nearby Roseville, another blue-collar suburb, Eminem suffered the worst beating of his life, when he was beaten by a black teenager, according to court records and interviews. He was in fourth grade and suffered a severe concussion.
Two days before his ninth birthday, a bully named D ‘Angelo Bailey bit his lip and beat him to death. Since then, the beatings have gotten worse and worse. A few months later, Bailey rolled up a snowball containing a “heavy object or piece of ice” and threw it in Eminem’s direction, smashing his nose and then beating him.
However, the worst incident happened when Eminem was most vulnerable. He turned and was urinating, thinking he had escaped the evil world, though only for a minute or two. Bailey rushed in and beat young Mathers to death, leaving him with “head, face, back and leg injuries.”
His mother sued the Detroit school system for failing to protect him — her son suffered a concussion and was temporarily blind in one eye — but her lawsuit for $10,000 in damages was eventually dismissed on the grounds of “government immunity.” Eminem left the school, but never left him for that moment, recording the ordeal in a song called “Brain Damage,” which reads: “He kept chokin’ me and I couldn’t breathe; he looked at me and said, ‘You’re gonna die honkie!’ ”The song appeared on his breakthrough album The Slim Shady LP, but he didn’t need sympathy, he wanted people to know that all of these things had to happen for him to get to where he is today.
It was one of several black beatings he suffered. But instead of opposing black culture, Eminem captured it through the world of rap. Introduced by an uncle, he became fascinated with the art form LL Cool J and Run DMC will become heroes, replacing comic book characters that were his former passion. He began to read dictionaries to enhance his lyrical abilities, but he was listless in his homework. With a keen interest in English, he began writing lyrics for the underground rap wars.
Anyone who has watched 8 Mile knows that while Eminem isn’t the greatest actor, he’s still a great artist: his song “lost Yourself” won an Oscar for best original song, and he’s also a tool for exploring 8 Mile’s theme. Much of the plot is based on Eminem’s own life: a young rapper in Detroit tries to make his way in the music world while also battling the harsh environment around him.
4. Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin, who played Kevin McCallister in “Home Alone,” is the family’s most famous character. Culkin became the first child actor to earn $1 million for his follow-up role in “My Girl” and the second-youngest “Saturday Night Live” host, at age 11.
Macaulay Calkins’s opened up about the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, which he says was the reason he decided to leave Hollywood. The Home Alone star, 37, said his father Kit Culkin, a former actor, was “jealous” of him and his success as a child actor. “He’s a bad man,” said Macaulay. “He is abusive. Physically and mentally. If I want, I can show you all my scars. He claimed his father made threats such as “Do good or I’ll hit you. ”
Macaulay said: “Everything Kit tried to do in life, I excelled at before I was 10-years-old,” “I was a better dancer than he was, I was a better actor that he was. “His parents split in 1995 after 21 years together. Macaulay said it was “one of the best things that’s ever happened.”.
Between 1976 and 1989, Kit Culkin and Patricia Brentrup had seven children: Dakota, Macaulay, Kieran, Quinn, Christian, and Rory. The family had lived in their New York railroad apartment for nine years, with the exception of the bathroom door.
Family life is unpredictable, families are always struggling financially, and children don’t always go to school. Patricia is the glue that holds kit together in the face of his anger, abuse and eventual disappearance.
Macaulay continued, “I even wanted to take a break for a while and eventually I was like ‘I’m done guys, hope you all made your money because there is no more coming from me.”
When Macaulay was 15, he sued his parents for a $21 million ($17 million USD) in inheritance. He removed their names from the list of legal guardians so that he could have full control of his property.
For Macaulay, the peace of childhood was not achieved until he wrote about his father in his memoir, Junior. In 2006, when he was 25, he published a memoir by Miramax Books.
Among some of Kit’s fondest early memories are a few harrowing open letters to his father that stand out “Dear Father… It didn’t have to be like this, “He wrote in a letter. “We could have stayed poor… You showed me what it was like to be afraid… You hurt people a lot, you know. I am not just talking about your family and the other important people around you; you hurt our name. I should know. Did you know I had to apologies on your behalf way too many times? You made a lot of people cry. You made my mother cry.”
According to a 2016 article in the Daily Mail, none of Macauley’s siblings had much to do with their father, who was in exile. The 76-year-old collapsed in a stroke four years ago, leaving him with difficulty speaking. He lived alone in a small house in Oregon. He was rarely seen with a long beard.
Asked by the Daily Mail if he had heard from his most famous son, Kit replied: “I don’t consider him a son any more.”
After a long retirement, Macaulay is set to return to Hollywood in 2018 to take a role in Seth Green’s film Changeland, which co-stars his girlfriend Brenda Song.
5. Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato is a famous pop singer, along with Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez. Like Gomez and Cyrus, she rose to fame on the Disney channel and later became a controversial figure. Lovato, whose struggles with drugs and alcohol are notorious in the industry, has made several trips to rehab to try to put her problems behind her. These days, Lovato is proud to keep her head clear and not ashamed to share her journey with fans.
She made her return to the public spotlight a year and a half later she came out from drug treatment: first performing at the 2020 Grammys, then singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.
On July 24, 2018, TMZ broke the news that Lovato was rushed to the hospital for an apparent overdose. Since 2009, this is the fourth time she has entered a drug treatment center.
August 2018: Lovato takes to Instagram and tells fans she’s seeking treatment again. “I now need time to heal and focus on my sobriety and road to recovery. The love you have all shown me will never be forgotten and I look forward to the day where I can say I came out on the other side. I will keep fighting,” she said.
Demi Lovato was born in 1992 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her mother, Dianna De La Garza, was a cheerleader for the Dallas cowboys football team, and her father was an engineer and musician. Lovato’s parents divorced when she was a toddler and she moved to Dallas, Texas, where she spent her childhood. It was in Texas that Lovato began to develop her musical talents, learning to play the piano and guitar at age 10.
Demi Lovato has been in the spotlight since she was a little girl. Like many child stars, fame in her youth can have dangerous effects on people, and Lovato has been open about her struggles with addiction, eating disorders and mental health.
Lovato talked about her first suicidal thoughts during a recent interview. She explained: “The very first time that I was suicidal was when I was seven, and I had this fascination with death. I have experienced things that I’ve not talked about, that I don’t know if I ever will talk about. But at seven, I knew that if I were to take my own life, that the pain would end. So, it’s been this thought where it came back when I was bullied. It came back several times when I was struggling with depression, my bipolar disorder.” These feelings eventually lead the singer to start cutting herself, which terrified her mother.
Even at the peak of her career, Lovato became a victim of depression and an eating disorder in 2010. To solve the problem, she went to a rehabilitation center for medical help.
In 2011, she returned from rehab to live a sober life. She admitted to drug and alcohol abuse. She admitted to taking cocaine and said she even smuggled it on to planes. She revealed she suffered from a nervous breakdown and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder during treatment.
The first time Lovato tried cocaine, though, was in 2009 at 17 years old, when she was working for the Disney Channel. “I was with a couple friends, and they introduced me to it,” she said. “I was scared, because my mom always told me your heart could just burst if you do it, but I did it anyways. And I loved it.” Lovato’s birth father was an addict and an alcoholic, and Lovato says she “always searched for what he found in drugs and alcohol” because he chose those substances over his family.
According to Lovato’s sister Dallas, their biological father “would rage and yell and throw things, and Demi saw that.” Marissa Callahan, Lovato’s childhood friend also spoke about the manipulative things their father would say to them. “He would tell them he had cancer when he didn’t. Or he would tell them he’s dying tomorrow, when he wasn’t,” she said. Lying and exhibiting violent behavior can be common for people who are dependent on drugs, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
Lovato showed some of those behaviors herself after an out-of-control party during a tour for “Camp Rock 2.” Lovato explained that they destroyed the hotel room, and when the hotel threatened them, some of the dancers reported her for abusing Adderall. When she found out it was her backup dancer, shorty, she says, she remembers thinking, “I’m going to beat this bitch up.” “We know that on this trip, she punched her backup dancer in the face.
While it’s unfair to say exactly that the behavior was learned directly from her father, seeing these behaviors modeled in childhood could have had an impact on Lovato. In a study of the various needs of children raised with alcoholic parents, children of alcoholic parents were found not only to be more likely to abuse drugs, but also to have internalized symptoms (such as depression and low self-esteem) and externalized symptoms (behavioral problems and aggression).
But Lovato’s biological father wasn’t the only parent who affected her mental health. In the documentary film Dianna De La Garza, Lovato’s mother shares her own desire for the perfect body and the effect it can have on her children. Although she doesn’t mention it explicitly in the documentary, the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader has struggled with an eating disorder. In an interview, Lovato Shared how her battle with bulimia was influenced by her mother. “Even though I was 2 or 3 years old, being around somebody who… had an active eating disorder… it’s hard not to grow up like that,” Lovato said.
“I may have passed that along to my kids — that wanting everything to be perfect and the need to be thin and beautiful to be successful,” she said.
Demi Lovato was home-schooled due to bullying at school. She associated herself with an organization called ‘PACER’, which helps victims of bullying.
When Lovato was 7, she starred on “Barney & Friends” and then later on Disney Channel’s 2008 series “Camp Rock.” “I wouldn’t start out that young if I could do it over again,” Lovato said, “I don’t regret anything. It was difficult to transition from a child star to transforming into a mainstream artist. It’s something that is very challenging.”
“You have to find your identity,” Lovato said. “For so long you’ve been molded into something and now you’re expected to figure out who you are very fast in front of the entire world. It’s definitely has been difficult, but it’s been a learning experience. I am still figuring out who I am every day.”
In 2020, Demi Lovato gave a great show for the May issue of Harper’s Bazaar about her career return after nearly two years. With the release of the new album, the singer-actress is ready to start again after a near-fatal drug overdose 18 months ago and has published stunning pictures revealed her health in the magazine. There’s no doubt that Demi Lovato still has a lot of good to do in the world, and a bright future still ahead of her.