Nelson Mandela and 17 other outstanding people who grew up in foster homes

On the eve of the sad news flew around the world – Nelson Mandela, a real hero of our time, raised by the regent of the Tembu people after the death of his own father, died. We remembered other outstanding personalities who were formed in the absence of their families

(18 photos in total)

1. Marilyn Monroe.

She was abandoned by her widowed mother, suffering from a mental disorder, and the future sex symbol spent most of her childhood with distant relatives and in shelters.

2. James Brown

In early childhood, the boy's parents divorced, and James was brought up by an aunt in Atlanta, Georgia. James grew up in poverty and had to drop out of school to earn a living. At one time he wandered and was a street kid, and at the age of 16 he got into a colony for juvenile delinquents.

3. John Lennon.

John's parents divorced when the boy was very young. When Julia Lennon found another man, four-year-old John was taken in by his maternal aunt Mimi Smith and her husband George Smith, who had no children of their own.

4. Ingrid Bergman.

When the future star of "Casablanca" was 3 years old, her mother died, and 10 years later her father Justus Samuel Bergman died. Then an aunt took over the upbringing of a 13-year-old girl, but six months later she died. Then Ingrid moved in with her uncle Otto Bergman, who had five children.

5. Nelson Mandela.

At the age of nine, Mandela lost his father, who died of tuberculosis, and Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the regent of the Tembu people, became his official guardian.

6. Eric Clapton.

Clapton's mother was a 16-year-old girl, and his father was a 24-year-old soldier from Montreal, who had never even seen his son Eric. Little Eric lived with his grandmother and her second husband. Clapton grew up, and for years he thought that his mother was his sister, and his parents were his grandparents. Years later, his mother married another Canadian soldier and moved to Germany, leaving young Eric with his grandparents in Surrey.

7. Ray Liotta.

The star of the movie "Nice Guys" was adopted at the age of 6 months. More than 40 years later, Ray hired a private investigator to find his birth mother.

8. Mike Tyson.

The childhood of the famous boxer was very difficult. Fortunately, he was noticed by the famous coach Cas d'Amato. D'Amato settled Tyson at his place and even took official custody of him — Mike did not remember his real father, and his mother was a drug addict and died soon after. Almost no one from Mike's children's company survived — his friends went to prison or died, including in front of his eyes.

9. Truman Capote.

The author of the novels "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Cold-blooded Murder" was sent to live with his mother's relatives when he was only 8 years old.

10. Richard Burton.

17-year-old Richard Jenkins was almost adopted by his teacher Philip Burton, but the law forbade him because the boy was too young. As a result, Richard changed his last name and lived like Philip's own son.

11. Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs' biological father was Abdulfatta Jandali, a Syrian Muslim. At that time, he was dating Joan Schieble, but her parents were against their relationship, and as a result, Steve Jobs was raised by Paul and Clara Jobs.

11. Francois Truffaut.

The future cult French director was the illegitimate child of Jeanine de Montferrand, he did not know his real father, Roland Levy (a Jew), who was a dentist. Roland Truffaut, whom his mother married, recognized Francois as an adopted child and gave him his surname. Since birth, Truffaut has lived in the care of various nannies and his grandmother, who instilled in him her love for books and music. He lived with his grandmother until her death when he was 10 years old, after which he was reunited with his mother and stepfather for the first time.

13. Edgar Allan Poe.

Poe was born in 1809, but his mother died a year after conception. His father also abandoned him. As a result, Edgar lived in a foster family in Virginia.

14. Jack Nicholson

After the boy was born, he was cared for by his grandparents, John Joseph Nicholson and Ethel May Nicholson. Jack grew up believing that his grandparents were his father and mother. Only in 1974, a Time magazine reporter who found out the information hidden by everyone revealed the truth to the actor: his older sister June is actually his mother. By then it was too late: June died of cancer in 1963, and Ethel died seven years later — in 1970.

15. Coco Chanel.

Her mother died when Coco was barely twelve, and later her father left her with four siblings; Chanel's children were then in the care of relatives and spent some time in an orphanage.

16. Eddie Murphy.

Eddie's father died when he was still a child. After his death, Lillian fell ill, and the brothers had to live in a foster family for one year. Later, Eddie and his brother grew up together in Roosevelt, New York with their mother and stepfather Vernon Lynch, a foreman at an ice cream factory.

17. Leo Tolstoy.

His mother died with the birth of her last daughter, when the future classic of Russian literature was not yet 2 years old. A distant relative T. A. Ergolskaya took up the upbringing of orphaned children. In 1837, the family moved to Moscow, as Tolstoy's older brother had to prepare for university. Soon his father, Nikolai Ilyich, died suddenly, and the three younger children settled back in Yasnaya Polyana under the supervision of Ergolskaya and her paternal aunt, Countess A.M. Osten-Saken, appointed guardian of the children.

18. Ella Fitzgerald

Ella's mother died as a result of a heart attack when the girl was 14 years old. Due to disagreements with her stepfather, Ella moved to live with her aunt Virginia Henry and began working as a caretaker in a brothel, where she came into contact with the life of mafiosi and gamblers. After the police and custody services took care of the underage girl, she was placed in an orphanage in the Bronx, later transferred to a boarding school for girls in Hudson, but Ella soon escaped from there and remained homeless for some time.