The recent tragedy regarding Rob Reiner and his son reminded me of the fate of the sons of some NFL head coaches. Andy Reid had a son who died of a drug overdose, and another who went to prison following a serious car accident. Tony Dungy’s son died by suicide.
It’s not an altogether unprecedented fate for the kids of the rich and famous. Caroll O’Connor’s son was addicted to drugs, and died by suicide. Tom Hank’s son, Chet, has struggled with drugs. Marlon Brando’s had a son with serious legal problems. Martin Sheen had Charlie.
I’m sure there are many others.
I imagine that it can be very tough being the child of a larger than life, wildly successful parent. Perhaps their very public career pulls them away from important quality time with their kids. Perhaps the pressure to emulate the family legacy creates unrealistic expectations for success. Or maybe the famous persona isn’t a real reflection of the famous parent’s private character. And, of course, mental health struggles afflict people across the socioeconomic spectrum.
Add in large amounts of money from rich parents, and drugs/alcohol/legal problems are an obvious risk.
No examples. My thoughts are that it is difficult to know whether the incidence of troubled kids of celebrities is any more prevalent than the incidence of troubled kids in general. Poor people, middle-class people, non-celebrity rich people, all groups have troubled kids in the mix to some degree. We just don’t hear about most of those others (until they make the headlines as mass killers or something).
Looking at celebrities specifically seems to me intrusive and judgmental.
Is the percentage of celebrity kids who suffer from mental health issues and drug abuse any higher than that of the regular population? Or do we just hear about them, instead of the neighbor’s kid down the street.
In a sad coincidence, the documentary Wasp Woman: Murder of a B-Movie Star came out in October. Susan Cabot was herself murdered by her son in 1986.
Not as tragic, but nonetheless sad, was Harold Lloyd, Jr. Harold Sr. in no way inflicted emotional trauma on Jr.: Sr. was completely jazz-age sex-positive, accepting of his son’s orientation (and famously encouraging Bettie Page to make her place as a pioneer of fetish cheesecake). But Jr. had his demons to contend with.
Celebrity parents whose offspring committed suicide: Cheyenne Brando, Danton Hughes (son of art critic Robert), Whitney Houston’s daughter Bobbie, Paul Newman’s son Scott, Gloria Vanderbilt’s son Carter Vanderbilt Cooper. Sylvia Plath’s son followed her example and took his own life.
In my immediate social circle I would say about half of us have kids troubled enough in one way or another to need interventions of some kind-anywhere from therapy to rehab to law enforcement encounters to involuntary institutionalization. It is sadly extremely common.
When he was 16, O’Connor was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He survived the cancer with chemotherapy and two surgeries but ultimately became addicted to drugs. He had been taking prescription drugs for the pain but later became dependent on harder drugs. Despite numerous stays at rehabilitation clinics, he never conquered his addiction and remained in recovery.
On March 28, 1995,O’ Connor called his father to say that he was going to end his life. He said he believed he could not beat his drug addiction and could not face another drug rehabilitation program.
Bart Starr, who was a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Packers, and then their not-particularly-successful head coach for nine seasons, lost his son, Bret, to a drug overdose at age 24.
As has been noted, tragic things happen to non-famous families, too, but I do wonder about whether living their life under a microscope, and facing unreasonable expectations from others due to their famous parents, amplifies the problems and struggles for young people like these.
IMO rich and successful but mostly anonymous business people have a hard time raising well-adjusted kids. Now add celebrity to the parental resume and it gets that much harder.
For sure growing up poor and abused or neglected is even less fun than growing up rich and abused or neglected.
My overall thought is the celebs and very well off don’t have troubled kids at a much different rate. But they tend to crash more spectacularly. And that alone makes their crash more news- or gossip-worthy. And very much more so if Mom or Dad is a movie star rather than an industrial CEO.
I do think we just hear about it more with celebrities. But money probably pays a part in it–The more money you have the less in touch with reality you are.
Money for drugs and parents with the ability to help shield from consequence? If things go off the rails, they can stay that way without intervention.
I knew a family who the eldest got heavy into drugs and he tried to burn his parents’ house down with them in it. He got “better” but that just meant he traded meth for Jesus.
In my circle of ordinary middle-class friends’ families I count one suicide, one attempted suicide, one death by drug overdose, and one with continuing run-ins with the law. I’d add that each family has one or more kids that grew up just fine.
I think in the macro, this isn’t really a “celebrity” problem. It’s mostly a confirmation bias situation. Celebrity kids probably get into trouble at a comparable rate with any other kid in the same socioeconomic class, but we only hear about the names that the media cares to share.
I would believe that, to an extent, extremely affluent kids get into trouble more. Either due to entitlement, access, less supervision, etc. But I think this is likely true of rich kids from families you’ve never heard of as much as it’s true for celebs. Time, money and reduced accountability is about as bad a combo as there is for anyone without a rock-solid moral center.
Yep. One makes them, but they don’t ever really control them. Between my immediate family and extended family, there have been notable problems involving parents and children. Some of them have even made the national news, even though no one was really a celebrity before the craziness ensued. Add in what friends and acquaintances have had to deal with, and it starts to look like a decades old, very dark soap opera plot.
From my perspective, celebrity children aren’t any more likely to end up in crazy situations than anyone else’s children, you’re just more likely to hear about them.
Individuals working in the entertainment industry — actors, musicians, stage production, roadies — those in front of and behind the set/stage — are approximately three times more likely to struggle with mental health challenges. Moreover, there is a disproportionate struggle with substance misuse in this population. While Arts and Entertainment can transcend emotions and benefit our well-being, it’s somewhat ironic that production and tech workers — the ones we don’t see — are, in fact, suffering.
As for kids; privilege twists people. I’d fully expect the children of wealthy and famous people to typically be psychologically warped in one fashion or another.
