Actors Who've Sadly Had Children That Passed Away
In a film loaded with high-intensity moments, one brief scene in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" lands an exceptionally powerful emotional punch. Théodred, the only son of King Théoden (Bernard Hill), has died in a battle with the Orcs of Isengard, and his father stands with Gandalf at his burial mound. When Gandalf attempts to allay the king's grief by reminding him that Théodred's death was not his fault, Théoden responds by saying, "No parent should have to bury their child," before dissolving into tears. His statement stands out for its heart-rending and irrefutable truth.
It should come as no surprise that the death of a child is one of life's most traumatic experiences; the National Institute of Health cited studies that showed a child's death can be the greatest and most enduring stress on families. No one is immune to the devastation of losing a child — even celebrities. Here are some famous entertainment figures who have sadly had children that passed away.
Dana Carvey
Aspiring comedian Dex Carvey was well on his way to carving out a career path similar to that of his father, "Saturday Night Live" veteran and "Wayne's World" star Dana Carvey. However, the 32-year-old's trajectory was tragically cut short on November 15, 2023, by an accidental drug overdose. TMZ cited law enforcement sources on November 16, which noted that first responders were called to the home of Dex's girlfriend. He was found locked in a bathroom and unresponsive, and paramedics pronounced him dead on the scene.
Dana Carvey posted a message on Instagram that confirmed that his son had died of an accidental overdose. He also praised his son's talents, writing, "Dex packed a lot into those 32 years. He was extremely talented at so many things — music, art, filmmaking, comedy — and pursued them all passionately." Dex opened for his father's 2016 Netflix standup special, "Dana Carvey: Straight White Male, 60," and appeared in several film and television projects, including "Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser." Dana Carvey also noted in a second Instagram post that he would take a break from work and social media in the wake of his son's death to "figure out what life looks like now that we are a family of three." Carvey and his wife, Paula Zwagerman, have a second son, comedian Thomas Carvey.
Regina King
Video of an orange sky lantern, drifting silently over a landscape, posted to Regina King's Instagram account was the poignant way in which the Oscar winner paid tribute to her late son, Ian Alexander Jr., on January 19, 2023. He would have turned 27 on that day, but he died by suicide on January 20, 2022. "Of course, orange is your favorite color," she wrote on the post. "It's the fire and the calm. I see you in everything I breathe."
Alexander was the only son of King and her ex-husband, record producer Ian Alexander Sr. At the time of his death, People cited a 2007 interview with King in which she said that he was a source of pride and strength for her. "You don't know what unconditional love is," she said. "You may say you do, but if you don't have a child, you don't what that is. When you experience it, it's the most fulfilling thing ever." Ian Alexander Jr., who was a DJ, was frequently photographed with his mother at red carpet and other industry-related events.
Sylvester Stallone
The Netflix documentary "Sly" delves into the early life and career of Sylvester Stallone through his career struggles and the creation of his most enduring screen characters, Rocky Balboa and John Rambo. But the film also pauses briefly to explore the price tag of his meteoric career through his relationship with his son, Sage. Sylvester Stallone cast his son as Rocky's son, Robert, in "Rocky V," which detailed the loss of connection between Rocky and his son as he pursued another shot at boxing stardom and their eventual reconciliation. "I try to take something that actually is what I wish I had done in real life, but I wasn't able to do that in reality," said Stallone in "Sly." "Unfortunately, you put things before your family. And the repercussions are quite radical and devastating."
Sage Stallone pursued a career as a filmmaker while also co-founding Grindhouse Releasing – a distribution company devoted to exploitation and cult film titles — with Oscar-winning editor Bob Murawski. He was found dead in his home on July 13, 2012, at the age of 36. His death, which was initially and erroneously attributed to a drug overdose, was caused by atherosclerosis, a condition related to coronary artery disease.
Keanu Reeves
For "John Wick" franchise star Keanu Reeves, the tragedy of his child's death was compounded by the loss of her mother less than two years later. Reeves met and fell in love with Jennifer Syme, an actor and assistant to director David Lynch in 1998. Eight months later, a daughter, Ava Archer Syme-Reeves, was stillborn on December 24, 1999. The couple's relationship did not survive the loss of their child, though they remained on friendly terms. Two years later, Syme herself died on April 2, 2001, when her car collided with parked vehicles in Los Angeles, California.
Reeves was a pallbearer for Syme, who was buried next to their daughter. In an interview with Parade (via Live Journal) in 2006, he tried to encapsulate his grief over their deaths in words. "I miss being a part of their lives and them being part of mine," he said. "I wonder what the present would be like if they were here — what we might have done together." At the same time, he also said that their absence helped him to value what he had. "Much of my appreciation of life has come through loss," he said.
John Travolta and Kelly Preston
Jett Travolta, the son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston, had a history of seizures, which the family believed was due to Kawasaki syndrome (or Kawasaki disease), a condition that causes the inflammation of blood vessels, and in particular, the coronary arteries, which bring blood to the heart. The younger Travolta had also been described as autistic, which as ABC News noted, is more frequently associated with seizures than Kawasaki, though the family favored the Kawasaki diagnosis. Regardless of the cause, Jett Travolta died at the age of 16 after suffering a seizure in 2009 while at the family's vacation home in the Bahamas.
A postmortem revealed that the seizure was the cause of death, though a spokesperson for the Royal Bahamas Police Force told the Associated Press that Jett Travolta died after hitting his head in a bathtub while experiencing the seizure. Kelly Preston died of breast cancer at the age of 57 on July 12, 2020. Two years later, John Travolta paid tribute to his son on what would have been his 30th birthday with an Instagram message that read in part, "My dearest Jetty, I miss you more than words can say. I think about you every day."
Carol Burnett
The daughter of comedy and TV legend Carol Burnett and producer Joe Hamilton, Carrie Hamilton was well on her way to establishing her own career when cancer cut her life short in 2002. Carrie Hamilton co-starred in Seasons 5 and 6 of the series "Fame" and earned critical praise for her turn as Maureen Johnson in the first national tour of "Rent." She also starred in the cult indie "Tokyo Pop" and appeared opposite her mother in episodes of "Fame" and "Touched by an Angel."
Carrie and Burnett co-wrote a stage play, "Hollywood Arms," which was inspired by Burnett's 1986 memoir, "One More Time," and her childhood in Hollywood during the 1940s. Carrie did not live to see the play enjoy a critically praised and Tony-winning run on Broadway in 2002, as she died of complications from lung cancer at the age of 38 on January 20, 2002. The Balcony Theatre of the Pasadena Playhouse was renamed the Carrie Hamilton Theatre in 2006, while Burnett helped to establish the Anaheim University Carrie Hamilton Entertainment Institute in 2010.
Tim Roth
In November 2021, composer and guitarist Cormac Roth announced on Instagram that he had a Stage 3 form of germ cell cancer called choriocarcinoma. The 25-year-old, who is the son of Oscar-nominated actor Tim Roth, wrote that the disease had taken its toll. "It has taken away half of my hearing, 60 pounds of weight, my confidence, and will continue its murderous path until I can manage to stop it somehow, and kill it." But he also showed considerable resolve, noting, "It hasn't taken away my will to survive, or my love of making music."
Cormac's family issued a statement to E! News on October 16, 2022, in which they revealed that he had died of the disease. "He was a wild and electric ball of energy and his spirit was filled with light and goodness," the family wrote. "He died peacefully in the arms of his family who loved and adored him."
Nick Cannon
"Masked Singer" host Nick Cannon put into words every parent's nightmare in 2021 when he told the audience of "The Nick Cannon Show" that his 5-month-old son, Zen, had died. Cannon became aware of his son's health conditions due to what appeared to be persistent sinus issues. A doctor's examination revealed that Zen had a condition called hydrocephalus, which was caused by a build-up of excess cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. Further tests revealed that he also had a malignant brain tumor, which required surgery and a shunt to ease the fluid pressure.
But Zen's condition worsened. "Ultimately, it was cancer in the brain and the tumor began to grow a lot faster," said Cannon on his talk show. He and Zen's mother, model Alyssa Scott, devoted their energies to spending time with their son until his death, which was announced on the December 7 broadcast of "The Nick Cannon Show." One year later, Cannon posted an image of his son on Instagram one year after his passing. "Physically I'm definitely on the mend but mentally and spiritually I'm broken," he wrote. "Losing a child has to be the heaviest, most dark and depressive experiences that I will never get over."
Zack Snyder
While overseeing post-production on "Justice League" in 2017, director Zack Snyder's daughter, Autumn, died by suicide at the age of 20. "Justice League" went on a two-week hiatus while Snyder and his wife, producer Deborah Snyder, attempted to pull together in the wake of their loss. The pair initially intended to return to production, but soon found that they were not emotionally prepared to shoulder the massive logistical efforts and studio negotiation required by "Justice League." "We just lost the will to fight that fight in a lot of ways," Snyder told Vanity Fair. "All of us, the whole family, we're just so broken by [losing Autumn] that having those conversations in the middle of it ... I was like, 'Really?'"
Completion of "Justice League" was handed over to Joss Whedon, who added approximately 80 pages of material to the film and reworked Snyder's footage. That version was met with disappointment by fans and studio executives alike. In 2019, Snyder returned to "Justice League," adding several minutes of new footage to his cut while removing all of Whedon's material, and it was a sizable hit when released on HBO Max in 2021. Snyder ended his cut with a tribute to his daughter in the form of an on-screen credit: "For Autumn."
Pierce Brosnan
Cancer has twice affected the life of actor Pierce Brosnan, who lost both a wife and a daughter to the disease. Brosnan's first wife, Australian actress Cassandra Harris, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the late '80s and died at the age of 43 on December 28, 1991. Brosnan had adopted her two children, Charlotte and Christopher when their father, Dermot — the brother of "Harry Potter" actor, Richard Harris — died in 1986. On June 28, 2013, Charlotte Harris also died of ovarian cancer at the age of 42.
Brosnan spoke about the toll cancer had taken on his family at the Stand Up to Cancer telethon in 2014. "I held the generous, strong, beautiful hand of my first wife, Cassi, as ovarian cancer took her life much too soon," said Brosnan. "Just last year, I held the hand of my funny, wonderful daughter Charlotte before she, too, died from this wretched inherited disease."
Michael Madsen
Hudson Madsen was the eldest of three children of character actor Michael Madsen and his third wife, DeAnna Martin. Hudson was found dead in Honolulu, Hawaii, on January 22, 2022. A spokesperson for the Honolulu Medical Examiner confirmed to People magazine that Hudson was a suspected suicide and died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Hudson, who had served in the United States Army, lived in the Wahiawa District in Honolulu County with his wife, Carlie. In a statement shared with NBC and the Los Angeles Times, Michael Madsen expressed shock and confusion over his son's death. "I didn't see any signs of depression. It's so tragic and sad. I'm just trying to make sense of everything and understand what happened," he said. Madsen is best known for his collaborations with director Quentin Tarantino on films like "Reservoir Dogs" and "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." Tarantino was also Hudson Madsen's godfather.
Michael Jai White
In an interview with VladTV in 2021 (via ETOnline.com) actor, filmmaker, and martial artist Michael Jai White revealed that his oldest son died that year after being hospitalized with COVID-19. White, who appeared as Bronze Tiger on "Arrow" and wrote and starred in the action spoofs "Black Dynamite" and "Outlaw Johnny Black," told VladTV that his son, 38, had struggled with substance abuse, which compromised his immune system. "Unfortunately, when he got sick and went to the hospital, COVID was waiting for him," said White. "That was the knockout blow."
White's son appeared to endure numerous hardships, as his father shared, "Unfortunately, he was still kinda out there in the streets hustling, wasn't getting well, started getting on substances." White attempted to help his son in later years but was unable to aid him in turning his life around. "He never shook the streets ... that was his thing," explained White. He also added that at the time of his death, his son left behind six children of his own.
Kevin Nash
Kevin Nash has always cut a formidable figure, whether as a professional wrestler during his long tenure with the WWF (now WWE) and WCW or as an actor in films like "John Wick." But the 64-year-old, who was inducted into both the WWE and nWo Halls of Fame, showed raw emotion on an episode of his podcast, "Kliq This," in 2023. Nash stated during the podcast that it was 12 weeks since the death of his son, Tristen, from cardiac arrest caused by a seizure. The seizure was reportedly due to alcohol withdrawal syndrome, and Nash told Fox News in 2022 that both he and his son had recently given up drinking.
Nash alarmed listeners and podcast co-host Sean Oliver by stating, "Time flies when you got a gun in your mouth — I mean, time flies when you're having fun." Oliver called Nash on his statement, noting that Nash owned guns, and the former wrestling champ later admitted he was struggling with his son's memory. "It's so much easier to say, 'I'm all right' than to say, 'You know, every morning when I wake up, the first thing that happens is, I come to the realization that instead of there being three human beings in my home, there's now two,'" he said. "And then I sit up in the bed and I have absolutely nothing I have to do, and it's like, 'So why am I getting out of bed?'" Nash later told Fox News, "I would never do anything to harm myself."
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, or is having suicidal thoughts, contact the relevant resources below:
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Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.