Entertainment
10 Celebs Who Love Their Families More Than Fame
Family is everything. Some may say it is the most important thing in the world.When everyone else fails us, we turn to our families. They are our rock, they’re always there even when we’re rarely there for them. It was the great Don Vito Corleone who once said “A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.” Wise words from a wise guy. Celebrities, with all the things they do and all the attention they get, try their best in finding time with their family. Some are able to make it work, but there are some who had to give up their careers for the attention and love their family needs. Here are ten of those celebrities.
10. Jessica Biel
Jessica Biel is the youngest celebrity in this list at only 36 years of age. She got married in 2012 to multi-talented artist Justin Timberlake. Jessica admits to taking a break from the busy life of a celebrity to take care of her son. In 2015, she and Justin had their son Silas. At Silas’ age now, he would eventually be demanding more time and attention from his parents soon, and Jessica has made arrangements in her career to be there for him.
Jessica’s first lead role came in 2001 with co-star Freddie Prinze, Jr. It was a romantic comedy film titled Summer Catch. She then made a film called The Rules of Attraction in 2002, with up and coming co-stars like her, James van der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Ian Somerhalder, and Kate Bosworth. Some of her more popular films were The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Blade: Trinity, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. But she will always be famous as Mary Camden in the TV show 7th Heaven.
Jessica’s family is still young and she might decide on going on a break sooner rather than later to focus on her son. They already made adjustments by moving to New York, let’s stay tuned for news of her in the future. Justin is not showing signs of slowing down any time soon.
9. Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Cates really dropped everything for her family. For Phoebe, the beginning of the end was when she auditioned for a role in the film The Big Chill back in 1983. It was there she met her husband, actor Kevin Kline. They had a below-the-radar love affair and got married in 1989. In 1991, they had their first child, a boy named Owen Joseph Kline. In 1994, their daughter Greta Simone Kline was born, their second child.
Phoebe started out as a model, but then found it boring even though she made a successful career out of it. At the disappointment of her actor father, she started acting. She’s been known to perform theme songs and soundtracks for the films she made, like in her debut film Paradise (1982) and Private School (1983). Her most popular films were Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) and Gremlins (1984). Fast Times was not just popular because of her fabulous pool scene but also because of the amazing and almost impossible lineup of actors to cast. The following actors are in the cast of Fast Times: Sean Penn, Forest Whitaker, Nicolas Cage, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Eric Stoltz, and Judge Reinhold. This was even director Amy Heckerling’s (Look Who’s Talking, Clueless) first film.
8. Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle was about to emerge as the most famous African-American comedian of his time. He was in line to be the next Eddie Murphy, the next Martin Lawrence, the next Chris Tucker. It was a $50 million contract extension on his popular TV show, Chappelle’s Show. The show ran for three seasons on Comedy Central. It’s format was sketch comedy and gained a wide audience due to its hard-hitting style, touching on topics never before tackled on TV.
Dave Chappelle appeared in numerous films but mostly as supporting cast, like The Nutty Professor (Eddie Murphy), Con Air (Nicolas Cage), You’ve Got Mail (Tom Hanks), and Blue Streak (Martin Lawrence).
It was a controversy when he left the business so suddenly and at the very peak of his career. Most speculate that he got scared of the fame and fortune, said he could not handle the thought of that much money and that much attention. They were not wrong, in a sense. When Dave emerged and started going on talk shows, he explained that he feared for his family. That kind of attention, he realized, is not a very good factor in raising a family. He is married with three children. Today, Dave Chappelle is back with a vengeance, releasing his stand-up specials with HBO and earning a truckload of money, nowhere near $50 million, but he’s getting there. His next film is another supporting role in the Bradley Cooper directed musical A Star Is Born.
7. Cary Grant
Cary Grant is considered one of the biggest actors to set foot onstage. He had an illustrious career that spanned 44 years in Broadway, on the big screen and on the radio. He’s been part of five Broadway productions, and more than 70 films. Considered one of the wealthiest stars in Hollywood, no one ever thought that Cary Grant would retire.
Cary married 5 times, but he only had a child with his fourth wife, Dyan Cannon. Their daughter’s name is Jennifer Grant, she was born in February 1966, seven months before Cary and Dyan married. Jennifer recalls her childhood and what her father did for her, she said that her dad kept all things she made for him as a child. Not only that, Cary archived everything that had to do with his daughter over the years, they were all kept in a secure and fireproof vault.
If you look at his career, particularly the last film he made, you will see that the last film was released in 1966, the same year Jennifer was born. Cary really puts a hard stop and focused on his daughter. Now he is the perfect example of a celebrity who loves family more than fame.
6. Katherine Heigl
Before becoming a child actress, Katherine Heigl started her career modeling. She appeared in catalogs and national TV ads. In her young acting career, she was able to work with Steven Seagal (Under Siege 2) and director Steven Soderbergh (King of the Hill).
Katherine Heigl started to get noticed on the TV shows Roswell (1999) and of course, Grey’s Anatomy (2005). Roswell ran for three seasons and Grey’s is still on the air, but she left after season 5 in 2010. She is not one of the biggest names in Hollywood, but she had her moment, starring in films mainly romantic comedies like Knocked Up (2007) with Seth Rogen, 27 Dresses (2008) with James Marsden, and The Ugly Truth (2009) with Gerard Butler, to name a few.
Most of her awards she got from her work in Grey’s Anatomy, like an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2007 and People’s Choice Favorite Female TV Star in 2008. Katherine may not have given up her film career but she gave up her TV career in Grey’s Anatomy to care for her adopted daughter Naleigh, and now she has three children, a second adopted daughter, Adelaide, and a biological son with husband Josh Kelley, Joshua Bishop Kelley, Jr.
5. Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Hurley up and left the business in 2002. She was most probably known as Vanessa Kensington, one of the hot girls in the movie series Austin Powers. She appeared alongside Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999). Another memorable character was in Bedazzled (2000) where she played the Devil with Brendan Fraser.
She dated actor Hugh Grant and was known for being “Hugh Grant’s girlfriend” for a time but ended up having a son born in 2002 with Shangri-la business group founder Steve Bing. Her son’s name is Damian Charles Hurley. Elizabeth left the Hollywood scene and went back home in England. There she took up an interest in organic farming, she’s got a big farm in the country of Barnsley, Gloucestershire, England. As a hot lady farmer, she is also a hot mom. She raised little Damian and was very happy there.
Today that her son is an actor, just like his mum, Elizabeth has resurfaced and is now starring alongside her son in the E! TV series The Royals. The Royals is now in its fourth season.
4. Demi Moore
Demi Moore was so famous and so hot a commodity in Hollywood during the time she took a step back to focus on her family that it didn’t look like she took a break at all. There was even a stretch where she had an average of 3 films released per year (1995-1997) wherein she made Striptease and G.I. Jane. Her marriage to powerhouse actor Bruce Willis gave them three children, all girls, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah. They moved to Hailey, Idaho to raise their family. She said her goal in life is to build a relationship with her girls that would make them want to share their lives with her, she aims to build that foundation early in her children’s lives.
Demi’s film career boasts of at least 40 films from 1981 to 2017. Her most famous and iconic film was Ghost, a 1990 drama she co-starred with Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg. She got a Golden Globe nomination and Whoopi won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She established herself in Hollywood in the films St. Elmo’s Fire and About Last Night. Other favorites are A Few Good Men (with the classic line “You can’t handle the truth!”), Indecent Proposal, and Charlie’s Angels 2.
3. Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis was not just the guy who accidentally shrunk his kids. Nor was he just the ghost-fighting member of an amazing group of heroes. He’s also a screenwriter, songwriter, producer, and musician. His achievements include a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album in 2006, and a Primetime Emmy Award in Outstanding Writing for the show SCTV in 1982. He’s appeared in movies from 1983 to 1997 and with such memorable and funny characters in Ghostbusters, The Flintstones, and the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids trilogy.
Rick got married in 1986 to costume designer Ann Belsky. At the young age of 35 and just five years into their marriage, Ann died of breast cancer. Rick became a single parent to their 2 children, Rachel and Mitchell. He tried to make his career and his family situation work together but later learned that he had to focus on one. He decided to go on hiatus and focused on his family. This was kind of a tragic end to a promising career. He mentioned recently that he has not retired from the business, he is just on a hiatus and has been picky about his roles. We expect him to make a comeback sometime soon.
2. Chris O’Donnell
At the peak of his career, Chris O’Donnell was the quintessential actor. He starred in a variety of roles. He can do comedy, The Bachelor (1999), he can do drama, Scent of a Woman (1992), he can do romantic love stories, Mad Love (1995), he can do courtroom thrillers, The Chamber (1996), and he can don a spandex superhero suit, Batman Forever (1995). But after 2002, he mellowed and only had supporting roles in five films until 2010. He gave up his film career for his family.
Chris was born Christopher Eugene O’Donnell in Illinois on June 26, 1970. He grew up with his parents and six other siblings. He started modeling at age thirteen and appeared on TV in 1986. He had a great early film career, acting opposite Academy Award-winning actor Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992). He also got the D’Artagnan role in the classic Three Musketeers with co-stars Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland. Today, he stars in his own TV show, NCIS: Los Angeles alongside Ice Cube.
His family now is much like his own family. His wife’s name is Caroline Fentress and they have five children, he was the youngest of seven children. What he wants for his kids is what he got from his family when he was young, a normal and regular life with his brothers, sisters, and parents.
1. Shania Twain
Regina Edwards is Shania Twain. She is a Canadian country music artist. She still holds the record of best-selling female country music artist of all-time. Her all-time classic hit songs are (try not to sing them while you read) Man! I Feel Like A Woman!, That Don’t Impress Me Much, From This Moment On, and You’re Still The One. Throughout her career she’s released a total of 12 albums (5 studio albums) and 38 singles. SHe is also known as the Queen of Country Pop.
She met music producer Robert John Lange in 1993 and got married in the same year. They divorced in 2010 but had a son nine years before named Eja. Switzerland, particularly Corseaux, as a very special place in her heart. Her son was born there, and it was her safe haven, her vacation home, her home away from it all. She left everything, all the awards and titles, all the recognition, everything that came with fame and fortune, to live with her husband and build their own family. After the ugly divorce that involved infidelity and friends, she still lived in Switzerland with her son. Now she’s made a comeback and released her fifth studio album, Now. Currently she is on tour promoting her latest album.