1. Jane And Peter Fonda
From the outside, Jane and Peter Fonda appear to have it all. They were born into great privilege as the children of film icon Henry Fonda, and they are gorgeous, talented, and successful. However, their lives have been deeply impacted by a dysfunctional childhood. Henry, despite his ability to connect with millions on screen, was emotionally remote and harsh.
“Plenty of criticism but no praise” is how Peter Fonda refers to his father’s parenting style. Jane said, “By the time I hit adolescence, the only time my father ever referred to how I looked was when he thought I was too fat (or) wanted me to wear a different, less revealing bathing suit, a looser belt, or a longer dress.”
Throughout Jane’s and Peter’s childhood, their mother, a socialite named Frances, had been in and out of the hospital for depression. After Peter was born, she developed symptoms of bipolar disorder. Weeks were spent in a manic state before she would recede into the darkness of her bedroom, shutting everyone out except her son, who was her favorite.
She was also obsessed with her weight, even telling young Jane, “If I gain any extra weight I’m going to cut it off with a knife!” Jane ended up fighting bulimia for many years. When Peter was 10 and Jane was 12, Frances entered a psychiatric hospital after Henry asked for a divorce. Unlike previous hospital visits, she did not return. Frances committed suicide by slicing her own throat.
Henry had everyone in Jane’s and Peter’s life tell them that Frances had actually died of a heart attack. Jane found out the truth in a movie magazine article. Not surprisingly, Jane and Peter had a lot of pain to get through as they grew up. While Henry was on his honeymoon with his third wife, less than a year after the death of Frances, Peter shot himself in the abdomen with a .22-caliber pistol.
Years later, while on acid with the Beatles, Peter retold the story which inspired the lyric, “I know what it’s like be dead” in “She Said She Said” on the album Revolver. He lifted his shirt to reveal the bullet wound and said, “I know what its like to be dead because I shot myself.” John responded, “Don’t tell me about it. I don’t want to know what its like to be dead!”
Jane spent most of her life trying to please the men in her life, not realizing that she deserved to be treated with respect until her divorce from Ted Turner in 2001. Both have come to terms with their early life and have written about it extensively in memoirs.
(Source: Listverse, 10 Tragic Backgrounds Of Beloved Hollywood Stars)
Related: Old Hollywood’s Dirty Secrets