Random Celebrities Who Were Orphaned As Children (19 items)

(#1) Marilyn Monroe
- Dec. at 36 (1926-1962)
There is some discrepancies about the identity of Marilyn Monroe's father, but by all accounts, he was not present during her childhood. Her mother was mentally unstable and placed Monroe, then known by the name Norma Jean Baker, with a foster family. When Monroe was seven, she was declared a ward of the state. She was raised by her mother's friend for a few years, but she later spent time in an orphanage, more foster homes, and with other family members.
(#2) Ray Charles
- Dec. at 73 (1930-2004)
When Ray Charles was 10 years old, his father, Bailey Robinson, abandoned the family. His mother Aretha died in 1947, when he was 15. Charles stayed with family friends for about a year after that before he went to Seattle to pursue his music.
(#3) Ella Fitzgerald
- Dec. at 79 (1917-1996)
Ella Fitzgerald's father William left her family when she was an infant. Her mother Tempie died from a heart attack in 1931, when Fitzgerald was 15. After she was abused by her step-father, Fitzgerald ran away to her aunt's house. She then spent time in an orphanage and a reformatory, and she was even homeless for a period of time.
(#4) Malcolm X
- Dec. at 39 (1925-1965)
Malcolm X's father, Earl Little, died when Malcolm was just six years old. He died under suspicious circumstances in a streetcar accident, but the family suspected that he was murdered by a white racist group. When Malcolm was 12, his mother Louise suffered a nervous breakdown and spent the next 24 years in a state hospital. Malcolm X lived in foster homes for a few years, and eventually he stayed with his half-sister.
(#5) Eleanor Roosevelt
- Dec. at 78 (1884-1962)
Eleanor Roosevelt's mother, Anna Rebecca Hall, died from diphtheria in 1892. The next year, when Roosevelt was 9 years old, her father Elliott died from the same disease. She was raised by her maternal grandmother.
(#6) Ice-T
- 65
Ice-T's mother, Alice Marrow, died when he was in the third grade. His father Solomon raised him until he died of a heart attack when Ice-T was 12. He was then raised by his aunt and uncle.
(#7) Ingrid Bergman
- Dec. at 67 (1915-1982)
Ingrid Bergman's mother Friedel died when Bergman was just three years old. Her father Justus died when she was 13. Bergman then lived with an aunt who died of heart disease 6 months later. Another aunt and uncle subsequently raised Bergman.
(#8) Babe Ruth
- Dec. at 53 (1895-1948)
Babe Ruth was sent to live at an orphanage when he was seven years old. There isn't much information regarding the reasons Ruth being sent to the orphanage, but Ruth later suggested that it was because he was running the streets and generally misbehaving. Out of eight children born to Katherine and George Ruth, Sr., only one other, Ruth's sister Marnie, survived infancy.
(#9) Edgar Allan Poe
- Dec. at 40 (1809-1849)
Edgar Allan Poe's father, actor David Poe, Jr., abandoned the family when Poe was an infant. His mother Elizabeth died from pulmonary tuberculosis when Poe was just two years old. He was raised by a foster family.
(#10) J. R. R. Tolkien
- Dec. at 81 (1892-1973)
When he was three years old, J.R.R. Tolkien's father, Arthur, died from a rheumatic fever. His mother Mabel died when he was 12 from diabetes mellitus type 1. Tolkien and his siblings were then raised by a friend of the family.
(#11) Leo Tolstoy
- Dec. at 82 (1828-1910)
Leo Tolstoy's parents, Mariya and Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died when he was very young. He and his siblings were raised by various family members.
(#12) Johann Sebastian Bach
- Dec. at 65 (1685-1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach's parents, Johann Ambrosius Bach and Maria Lammerhirt, both died within eight months of one another when Bach was only nine years old at the time. He was raised by his oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach.
(#13) Barbara Stanwyck
- Dec. at 82 (1907-1990)
Barbara Stanwyck's mother, Catherine Stevens, died in 1911, when Stanwyck was just four years old. After that, her father Byron quickly abandoned the family. For a short time, Stanwyck was raised by her older sister, but she later stayed at a series of foster homes.
(#14) Herbert Hoover
- Dec. at 90 (1874-1964)
Herbert Hoover's parents, Jesse and Hulda, both died by the time he was nine years old. Hoover and his siblings lived with various family members throughout their youth.
(#15) George Lopez
- 62
George Lopez was deserted by his father when he was an infant and by his mother when he was only 10 years old. He was raised by his maternal grandparents, Benita and Refugio Gutierrez.
(#16) John Keats
- Dec. at 25 (1795-1821)
When John Keats was eight years old, his father Thomas died from a skull injury after falling off a horse. His mother Frances died from tuberculosis when he was 14. Keats was subsequently raised by two guardians.
(#17) Bessie Smith
- Dec. at 43 (1894-1937)
Bessie Smith's father William died when she was very young, and her mother Laura died when Smith was nine years old. She was raised by her older sister.
(#18) Jim Thorpe
- Dec. at 64 (1888-1953)
There is not much information regarding Jim Thorpe's childhood, but it seems that his mother, Charlotte Vieux, died during childbirth when Thorpe was 11. His father Hiram died from an infection when Thorpe was 16.
(#19) Leon Leonwood Bean
- Dec. at 94 (1872-1967)
In 1884, Leon Leonwood Bean's parents, Benjamin and Sarah Bean, both died when he was 12 years old. He was raised by other family members.